Trepidation
by Kyloem
Summary: So many people are blinded by their own falsities that they cannot see the truth laid out before them. Will you be able to differentiate between deceit and actuality? How strong are the lies that tie you all together? It's time to play a game.
1. Prologue

_Prologue  
_  


* * *

His fingers gripped the cold, wooden floor under him. The young man was on his left side, slowly awakening from a forced slumber. He struggled to push himself off the floor. His eyes adjusting to the lack of light in the dull colored room, dimly lit and flickering florescent lights on the ceiling, similar to those found in old schools and buildings.

"Ugh!" he groaned as his arms buckled beneath him; his full strength hadn't returned.

His forehead hit the ground but his hands refused to move. He was left with a bruise on his forehead and a new piece of information. "What's going on?" he asked with a grunt, managing to use his anger and confusion to push himself to his feet, adjusting to the new weight on his back.

Reaching behind his back with his right hand, the man felt some sort of large, heavy metal object. It was attached to his back somehow. Bringing his left hand back he attempted to pull it off. It was pointless. The object was locked into his back and a sharp pain shot through his body with every tug.  
His left hand moved around the object, looking for some sort of way to remove it, but instead he came across a wire, leading from the top and towards the wall. At the same time his eyes found a tape recorder on the floor; common sense told him not to yank the wire off the contraption.

"Oh, God no…" he muttered, looking back at the wall for a moment. The wire had some slack, allowing the worrisome man to move forward a few more feet to grab the tape recorder.

Kneeling down he held the gray object in his hands; it looked old and worn, but it had a cassette inside and several buttons. 'Play Me' written on a piece of tape that was visibly positioned over the cassette. "No, please, no…" he said to himself, his right hand held the recorder as his left hand grabbed his dark brown hair, shaking his head in disbelief; his past few weeks of reading the newspaper had given him insight to what exactly was happening.

He was supposed to click the 'Play' button, but his right hand trembled and he brought his left arm down to his side, looking around the room. He hoped to find a way out, but all he could see before him was a long, rectangular shaped glass box. The man couldn't take the tension anymore; his thumb clicked the right facing arrow.

"Hello Steven. You have spent the last few years of your life abusing the precious endowment that your parents gave to you. Your body," the deep and powerful voice announced as Steven glanced down at his sleeve; it was slightly moved up and his forearm riddled with horizontal scars of different sizes, "Now you believe you've only been damaging yourself, but those which you once cared for have been hurt worse then you have _ever_ been, and have moved on. I am giving you the chance to feel that pain your loved ones have felt, and if you succeed, you will also have the chance to move on, move on from yourself. There is a box in front of you; needles and spikes spiral down it, and at the end, there is a key that will remove the mechanical saw from your back. Take the key, and you will take--back--your--life. But be careful; once the wire is pulled off of the mechanical saw the timer will go off and the blade will submerge into your flesh after the sixty seconds are up. What will it be, Steven? Cut your wrist, or cut your _spine_? Live or die. Make your choice. Let the game begin."

The recording of Jigsaw ended, and Steven was left wide-eyed and in a state of panic. "I didn't do anything! I didn't do anything!" he cried, pulling his right arm into the air whipping it towards the ground. The tape recorder hit the ground and was broken into several pieces, the aged cassette in near perfect condition.

He moved away from the glass box, not wanting the wire to snap on the saw, but it wasn't long before Steven realized his strength had still not fully returned to him. He could feel it: hunger and dehydration. How long would he last before it killed him? When would he be saved? But it struck him, who would've known he was missing?

It was now or never. He might not have the strength to complete the task in an hour. He had to do it.

"God damn it!" he shouted, running forward. Steven felt the saw tug a bit as the wire pulled back, a thin, short, iron bar with it, the ticking of the timer becoming obvious.

With no time to waste, Steven continued running until he came to the needle-filled glass box. His eyes examined it with horror, and he realized its size. His whole arm would have to be stuck in there to retrieve the key. He had heard about Jigsaw's traps… but to be face-to-face with one with fifty-five seconds left to live put a whole new perspective on it.

"No, no! Please! Don't do this!" Steven shouted, looking around the room again.

He moved to the end of the box; he could see the key and he began to pound his fists on the top of the box. He soon concluded that the glass was bullet proof and there was no way he could break through it in one minute.

"No…" he whined. He could feel the tears coming. "Please," he pleaded to whoever was listening, "Please, don't do this! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" The ticking taunted him, reminding him of what little time he had left.

Running back towards the front of the box, Steven put his left hand on the top of the box, his right hand slowly moving towards the entrance. "Come on… come on…" he said to himself, pumping his shoulders and stomping his foot. His right hand entered the box and the first needle tip slid along his finger, he winced in pain and gave a cry of agony.

Not a cry of present pain, but a cry of knowing what future pain was to come.

"Fucking damn it!" he shouted as he braced his legs on the floor and moved his hand into the box at a slightly quicker pace.

The jagged objects showed no mercy as his arm continued down the box, the needles scraped along his flesh, peeling bits off and reddening the inside of the trap. There was no escape from the cleverly placed needles. When a longer needle appeared Steven would attempt to move his arm to the side, but then he would be in just as much pain pushing the other needles deep into his skin. "Aaagh!" he cried out, blood squirting against the glass sides as veins popped and muscles sliced.

Suddenly, the tip of a longer needle sliced agonizingly through Steven's hand between his index finger and his middle finger, blood bursting from the fresh wound. The volume of Steven's cries increased.

Inching closer to the key, Steven's skin continued to peal; thin pieces were strung against the spikes and needles of the prison that held his arm hostage. The tips were now able to scratch briefly on the bone, but to Steven, he felt as if his skin had already been removed.

He bent his knees, his shoulder bone against the glass box's entrance. Steven's screams and the throbbing pain that had taken over his arm drowned the timer's ticking. "Come the fuck on! Aaaah!" his fingertips scrambled to get the key, but all he felt were spikes.

Where was the key? Abruptly it came to him; the key-- the object that would serve as his salvation--was also covered with spikes. "Aaaah! Damn it!" he cried out, tears rolling down his face. His right hand clutched the key, spikes poking out from the back of his hand. He began to step back when he realized that he spent too much time getting to the key.

Blood ran down the spikes and to the bottom of the box. Small puddles of blood were forming as Steven's arm remained relatively still, but his eyes squeezed shut and his body trembled.

Hopefully, it would be like ripping off a band-aid.

Steven took a step back and pushed against the box with his left hand, his other arm ripped through the needles and quickly made it out the other end, "Graaaah!" He shrieked in terror, letting his grip go of the key. Rather than falling, they key remained in place because the needles that surrounded it had pierced through his skin.

The immense pain prevented him from even opening his eyes to look at his mangeled arm. The whole arm was covered with dark blood; patches of skin were missing, and fingernails were cut and ripped while strips of skin were hanging off, blood still heavily dripping to the ground. The white of the bone could be seen on the forearm, and the previous wound in between Steven's fingers had increased, his index finger tilted heavily to one side, a quick rip would be able to destroy the bone.

"Hell! Shit!" he swore, using his left hand to pull off the key. Tears streamed down his face as he felt around with the key for the lock hole on the device on his back. However, the needles coming off of the key prevented it from entering the hole; Steven would first have to remove the needles to unlock the device. This realization caused him to panic. "Aaaah! No! No! Son of a bitch!"

_Reeeeeeeeeee!_

The sounds of ticking were replaced with an ear piercing sound of the blades spinning, only to be matched by Steven's screams of pain and horror.

His left hand shot back to his mouth as he attempted to rip the needles off the key with his mouth. His bloody right hand grabbed the other end of the key; the massive amount of pain prevented him from fully grasping it, even considering the life-or-death situation.

Steven broke off a needle with his teeth, but he had run out of time. The saw blades finally entered his back; they ripped through his clothing and caused blood to spew from his back. Steven took his last breath and gave one more piercing scream.

Within another a few seconds the blades of the saw had horizontally, diagonally, and vertically cut their way into Steven's back and spine, cutting through major arteries as blood splurged out from Steven's mouth, the back of his shirt quickly drenched with the liquid.

The young man fell face first to the ground, the saw continued spinning as his body shook slightly because of it. He was dead, lying in his own pool of blood as more continued to erupt from his back.

His head faced towards the wall, his lifeless eyes met with someone else's. A blue eye was watching through a hole in the wall; it blinked slowly once before giving a last look at Steven before moving away, a single beam of dusty light emerged from the hole.

The eye disappeared. A voice echoed over Steven's corpse.

"I think it's time to begin our game."

* * *

_To be continued..._


	2. Act I: Scene i

Note: I made a quick change to the last line of the Prologue.

* * *

Act I:  
Scene i

* * *

"Ugh," moaned the man lying on the grimy, yellow, tile floor. "What is this?" he managed to mumble. He sat up straight and glanced down at his sweatpants, and then the cold, iron, chain cuff gripping his left foot.

He stood up, getting a better look at his surroundings. The chain attached to his metal cuff led down a few feet to a pole; a bigger cuff was wrapped around the pole and four other chains were attached to it. Each chain led to another trapped person.

"Hey, wake up!" he shouted, kneeling down now, hopelessly tugging on the chain that held him captive.

"I've been up," replied a younger man.

"Why didn't you wake us sooner?" the older man asked, looking at the young man's face; his bright green eyes and dark colored hair gave him a unique appearance.

The other people began to stir; the chains rattled as they awoke. "Do you know what this is?" the young man asked. "I think we're going to need our strength."

The slightly older man sighed, giving up on the chain, "Yeah," he said. "I've heard about the Jigsaw murders. I guess it was only a matter of time before I saw one."

"Shit!" came from a darker skinned man. "Come on!" his first instinct, like everyone's, was to pointlessly pull on the chain that trapped them.

His shouting brought another girl to sit up, her eyes half open as her head moved around, "Whoa. Some party." She rubbed her eyes and began to move to get up, but she soon realized the situation, "Hey!" she shouted, "Hey! What the hell is this?" she screamed, grabbing the chain and whipping it up and down.

"Roy?" came the voice of a young woman next to the first man, he quickly responded to his name and looked at her.

It took him a few seconds but he remembered, "Alison?" Roy asked and she nodded. Her torn up clothes gave her a more desperate look for any type of companionship, "I haven't seen you in months. Are you ok?"

"Hanging in there," the brown-haired woman replied.

Roy made an attempt to get closer to his friend but he stopped when he felt something tug on his shirt; a wire that was stuck had been pulled forward from a player placed on top of the television, turning it on.

Their attention turned toward the television; it made odd sounds but the static soon calmed and a sinister puppet took its place.

"Greetings—and welcome," water slowly began to come in from the end of the large room; where no door was placed. "You have spent your years living lies. _Lies_ that have caused the ones you care about to suffer. But those who were suffering you refused to care about. I am now giving you a second chance; there is a slow acting poison in your body," the voice was unique and powerful, drawing in the complete attention of everyone within earshot.  
"I'd say you have about one hour before the toxin starts to take effect. There is a single antidote placed in this building; you all may fight amongst it, or look beyond deception—and find a different solution. Do not be blinded by what you think is reality, be cautious; you are all linked together by your… _chain of lies_. Bare in mind, you may be able to fool each other; but you cannot outfox me. Good luck; and don't touch the water."

"No! No!" the darker skinned man shouted, "This is bull!" He tugged hard on the chain, his bare feet slid against the cold floor as his grasp began to slip.

"Knock it off!" the younger man said, his head turned towards the screaming one. "Panicking will get us nowhere. Look," he nudged his head to the side of Roy and Alison, "You both can reach that stove. See what's there."

Roy stood up and walked over to the black stove, his chain near its full length. Alison crawled over as well, pulling out a red box from underneath the stove; her fingers began to lift the cover.

"The water," the other woman said, pointing towards the water slowly making its way towards them, "Look." There were two large objects on either side of the wall; wires came out from them, clips on the end, lying on the floor.

Roy's hands were placed on the top of the stove as his eyes watched the water inch closer to the wires, "The water's going to conduct the electricity." It finally sunk in, the danger of the situation.

The cover of the box was opened; photos lay inside along with a tape recorder, complete with a cassette. The words 'Keep Me', were painted in white onto the front of the recorder. "Roy," Alison showed him several pictures; they all looked like they were taken within the same minute, but they each had Roy and the dark skinned man. The man appeared to be giving him a small bag. On the back of two of the few photos were phrases, 'Roy and Isaac' and 'The Valiant Officer'. "Are those—drugs?" she asked Roy as Isaac leaned forward and squinted his eyes to get a better look, but he quickly looked away from the photos.

The 'valiant' officer refused to make eye contact with Alison, "Just play the tape." He said shamefully, "Please," he added.

She moved her eyes back to the recorder and clicked play.

"Hello Roy," it said, the same strong tone that came from the television, "You are a police officer; an upholder of the law. But as you can see from the photographs in front of you, you have become the very thing that you imprison. How many people have you hurt from your desire for satisfaction? How many people have you neglected? Now I'm going to give you the chance to help rather than hurt people through your desire for satisfaction. Your **desire** for survival—your **satisfaction** to know you are still _alive_. Your 'drug', in this case the key that will unlock the chains, is inside the stove; open the hatch and the fire will start. Reach in and take it. But the key is a weaker metal than the wire holding it in place. Hurry, it will melt before long. If you can't stand the heat, _officer_, stay out of the oven. Live or die. Make your choice."

Roy stood still, nodding his head slowly as he looked down at the stove. The recording finished and he closed his eyes. He could feel the tears rising. "I'm sorry," he apologized, "I should've stopped so long ago. But I couldn't," he took in a tear-holding breath, "It was just so hard losing her…"

"Just get the god damn key!" Isaac shouted; his chained foot jerked as Alison's head twisted in his direction.

"Shut your fucking mouth!" she swore, "You're a scum bag drug dealer! At least Roy has a heart!" Isaac said nothing as he went back to mindlessly pulling on his chain.

"C'mon. We'll figure out a different way to get that key out of there," Alison said, "Maybe if we break open the backside…"

Roy bent down, his metal cuff pulling against his ankle, "No. I'll do it." He eyed the water; he could hear the soft hum of electricity, "I'll do it."

He gripped the handles of the stove door; his heart rate increased, realizing just what he was about to do.

It swung down, a few clicks went off and Roy quickly shot his right hand into the stove. The fire hadn't started yet. He quickly grabbed the key and pulled it torward him; but the wire was tied to the key too tightly.

_Whoosh!_

Flames erupted up from the bottom of the stove, scorching the bottom of his arm, "Aaagh!" Roy cried out.

The officer jumped back, away from the stove, pulling out his arm fully. He waved his arm several times in an attempt to cool it off. His simple white t-shirt didn't have sleeves to cover up his bare arms and protect him from the flames.

"You!" Roy shouted to the young man, looking at his thin vest over his shirt, "Give me your vest!" He had no time to waste on being polite.

"I have a name you know," he said, pulling off his vest without quarrel; he knew the urgency of the situation, "It's Kaden." He tossed his vest toward the officer.

Roy caught the thrown vest and grabbed it by the collar. Pulling hard, he managed to rip it in half; Kaden didn't flinch at his destroyed clothing.

Wrapping each half around a separate arm, hoping they would provide some protection against the heat. Roy prepared himself again, "I think the wire's tied on there. I have to undo it." He exhaled hard, glancing at the water that would soon reach his bare feet in under a minute.

"Aaah!" he shouted, throwing both hands into the inferno. The vest pieces quickly began to burn up and his arms were once again in stinging pain. His fingers scrambled around the wire until he found the knot and his fingers began their desperate attempt to loosen it.

The young lady grabbed her ears and opened her mouth to cry out, 'Stop it!' But she knew how selfish and pointless it would be. She kept to herself, shaking a bit as Alison quickly crawled over.

"Hey. Everything's ok. Roy will be fine," Alison said, leaving Roy in his hellish agony for a few moments. She couldn't bare to uselessly watch him any longer, "I'm Alison."

"Grace," she replied, not wanting to remove her hands from her ears. She had no intention of striking up a conversation at the moment.

"Come on!" Roy screamed, the bottom of the vest pieces had been burned away and his skin was beginning to cook. "Aaaah! Shit!" he shouted, his hands jerking to either side, the knot began to untangle.

He grabbed the key once more; it was burning hot. He pulled back and wire slipped off the key, but not before one of the veins in Roy's arm popped due to the intense heat. Blood spewed into the fire; it sizzled quickly as Roy gave one more shriek of pain and fell backwards. The key slid along the floor, as Roy spread his arms outward on the cool floor. His crisp flesh was peeling and the skin was a brown and bloody color. Small rivers of blood aligned his arms from his heated, damaged veins.

"Oh God!" Alison cried, running over to Roy and picking up the key, "Damn it!" she dropped it; the key was scorching hot.

Not wanting to pull off the remaining pieces of vest, considering it probably melted onto his skin, she quickly tore off a piece of her gray sleeve, picking up the end of the key and undoing her own iron cuff.

"Roy!" she shouted; not sure whether to drag him away or wait until he moved, "The water's going to shock you!"

He turned his head towards the water. The white-hot pain surged through his bloody, blistered arms. He was in too much pain to even move. All he wanted to do was put his arms in the water and cool them off.

"Damn it, Roy!" she cursed, carefully grabbing him by underneath his armpits and dragging him away from the water; he gave a groan as she knelt down over his legs, unlocking the cuff.

He squinted and gave another groan as he watched the water inch toward him. Roy could hear the tape recorder. Its words repeated themselves, 'Live or die. Make your choice.'

* * *

_To be continued…_


	3. Act I: Scene ii

Scene ii

* * *

"Hey, the key!" Kaden said; he had his hand out and was looking directly at Alison who was removing the cuff from Roy's ankle.

With Roy's foot now free from the iron cuff that held him captive, Alison tossed the key over to Kaden. Noticing the lack of compassion he had for what Roy just went through. Did Kaden even glance at Roy's burnt and skin-peeling arms? But the situation _was_ life-or-death. The water conducting the electricity was still drawing near.

He easily caught the key. "Thank God," he praised, undoing the lock on the cuff; the iron cuff smoothly opened up.

Kaden stood and began to walk toward the other end of the room. "Hey!" Isaac shouted for his attention; Kaden glanced over and quickly dropped the key at his feet, not speaking a word.

"Come on, Roy!" Alison shouted; she was looking down at her friend's brown eyes, "Please, get up! I can't keep dragging you!" But the cop refused to respond, "Roy! We don't have much time!"

He continued to lie there, staring up at the ceiling, ignoring the danger of the situation. He was in pain and deep thought. What he had just went through. What Jigsaw told him. How many people _had_ he neglected?

"Roy, please! Get up!" she begged.

Roy quickly sat up, his scorched hands pressed hard against the filthy floor. He was at eye level with Alison, "Shut up!" he screamed; he had enough of her distressing. Did she not see what he just had to do?

Suddenly, a jolt of pain shot through his arm from the tension. Roy gave another cry of pain. He lifted his arms up off the floor, curling his fingers as he squeezed his eyes shut. All Alison could do was bite her lip and stare.

"Alison," Grace called out, "The box!" She pointed toward the stove. Water had just touched the red box containing the photos and recorder.

Those painted words 'Keep Me' flashed in Alison's mind. She got up and ran for the box, stopping a bit before it. She bent down and grasped the top of the open box and hesitated. She stared down at the photos in the box and the few that were becoming soaked on the floor. Alison simply grabbed the tape recorder and ran back.

"Let's go!" Kaden cried, waiting at the iron door at the end of the room.

The cuff snapped open and Isaac leapt up, "Hurry up!" He tossed the key toward Grace and made his way to Kaden.

"I got it!" she cried, catching the key and unlocking the metal cuff from her ankle.

Alison stopped at the side of Roy, looking down with sympathetic eyes, "Roy…" she whispered; she held the tape recorder with both hands.

"God damn it, Alison!" he shouted, refusing to let his hands turn into fists. "Just go! I'm coming!" her shoulders twitched a bit and she moved her eyes to the side and moved past Roy.

He looked up and watched the water come in closer, only a yard or so from touching his feet. Roy gave a grunt and quickly got himself off the ground without having to use his hands.

"Come on! The key!" Isaac shouted to Grace; his left hand banged on the iron door. A keyhole was clearly visible on it.

Grace quickened her pace and handed the key to Isaac. He snatched and inserted it.

Roy continued his slow walk behind Alison. His head tilted back as he attempted to soothe himself. All the while his arms still in burning pain.

* * *

_The front door creaked open as a man walked inside. The midnight sky provided very little light._

_He made little sound as he hung a set of keys on a hook and strolled down the dark hallway. His appearance made him look like he had just rolled out of bed. Not come home from work._

_He pushed open his bedroom door and a lamplight flashed on; the man covered his eyes from the sudden light. "Roy," said a blond-haired woman who sat on the bed._

_"Sorry, honey…" he said in a hushed tone, "Tough day at work." He didn't make eye contact for a second but soon looked into her worried and angry eyes._

_"Oh, bullshit," she responded, pulling out a small, clear bag from underneath her pillow and slamming it on the bed sheet. The bag held the remains of a grassy looking material. "What happened to quitting?" shouted Roy's wife._

_"No, honey, those were from before! I swear!" he replied. Roy could feel himself sweating now._

_She quickly got off the bed and banged her hand against the wall. "Stop fucking lying to me!" she screamed; her arms flailed to her side, "The department called today and asked why you hadn't come to work yet! You won't answer your cell phone! Then I find your bag of damn drugs hidden in your drawer!"_

_Roy didn't give an answer. He simply stared down at the floor; his mouth opened once in an attempt to talk but continued to keep quiet._

_"Whatever," she said hurtfully as she grabbed a large suitcase from the side of the bed. "Call me when you get your damn life together. I've had enough of your lies," she walked past Roy and made her way down the hallway._

_"Wait!" he said as she came to a stop, "I can't help it. It's still so hard—I miss her so much, Jade."_

_"Stop lying to me!" she shouted as her head turned towards him, Jade's eyes filled with tears, "It's not even about that anymore! Stop using your mother's death as an excuse to use drugs! You can fool everyone else, but you can't fool me anymore, Roy."_

_He watched her walk off, suitcase in hand. She opened the door and hesitated, "I thought you said you were my valiant officer." Jade slammed it behind her, leaving Roy alone in the hallway._

_After a few minutes of idly standing Roy walked back into his room and sat down on his bed, his hands clutched his hair and he shook his head slowly. "What have I done?" he whispered to himself._

_Another creak occurred, Roy's eyes shot up at his closet. The closet door opened slowly but nothing could be seen inside, even with the dim light of the lamp._

_"J-Jade?" he asked, getting up from the bed. Too emotionally disturbed to recognize fear._

_Roy moved forward and pushed the closet door fully open. He attempted to peer inside the closet._

_Without warning, a black-cloaked figure wearing a horrid pig mask emerged from the darkness of the closet. Using one hand, it grabbed Roy by the neck and using the other it jabbed a syringe into his neck, injecting the fluid through his body._

_"Ah!" Roy shouted; using both hands to push the cloaked figure back as Roy stumbled backwards himself, grabbing his neck with his left hand. "What did you—" he gave a moan and fell back, his body, luckily, landing right on the bed._

_The stranger moved forward, empty hypodermic in hand. "With any luck, officer Roy," he muttered, the same imposing voice found on the recorder and television, "This will be the last non-prescribed drug you take."_

_No longer able to keep his head up, Roy let it drop onto his sheets as his vision blurred. He quickly fell into unconsciousness._

* * *

"Thank God," Alison said as Isaac pushed the door open; it banged against the wall.

Kaden walked off to the door and removed the key as everyone but himself and Roy moved into the room more.

Roy stopped in front of the door, glancing over at Kaden who stood near him. Kaden's eyes were focused on Roy's arms but then the two met at the eyes. Kaden said nothing but some pity could be seen before he walked off into the room.

"Roy, Roy!" Alison called out, "There's water!"

His eyes widened and he quickly moved past Kaden and stopped next to Alison, glancing down a wooden bucket; it was placed on an equally soiled floor as the last.

The room was just a bit darker; the florescent lights above even murkier. The walls were tattered and ill-boding while several pedestals had been positioned around the room.

The burned-armed cop crouched down, looking at a plain, white, index card standing up against the bucket. Written in a small font it read, 'For The Valiant Officer'. He picked it up with his fingers and flipped it over. 'Don't Worry,' it read, 'The Water Is Uncontaminated. Hopefully Like You Shall Be. Wash Away The Sins, Roy.'

Letting the paper drop, Roy stuck his arms into the bucket of cool water. "Ah-hah…" he chuckled. He closed his eyes and tilted his head; hopefully his arms would be able to recover from this.

"Hey!" Isaac shouted, looking at Grace who began to pull the door shut.

Startled, she looked back at the drug dealer. "What's wrong?" Grace replied.

"Watch what you're doing, dumbass!" he pointed toward the wire attached to the top of the door, "The wire's gonna set off something else."

"Well the water is getting closer to us still. We don't have very long," she said, replacing her innocent look for a harsh one, "I wouldn't be calling me names considering your line of work. How many years of college did it take to get your degree in _medication_?"

Isaac gave a scowl and quickly replied, "Well to wind up here I'm sure you're no angel either."

"Just wait 'till Roy's ok before shutting it," Alison interrupted, her eyes fixed on Grace.

"No, go ahead," Roy said, he still had a small smile on his face, "I'll be fine."

Grace looked back at the door and pushed hard on the door and shut it completely. The wire snapped and the sound of metal grinding came from the other end of the room.

"Hey," Kaden called out, "It's locked." He was standing in front of the door leading to the next room; cold iron bars sealed it shut. A single keyhole was visible near the center.

"Damn it!" Isaac said as he walked to the door, "I told you it was a bad idea!" He snatched the key once again, but from Kaden's hand this time.

"Don't try the key!" Grace warned, "You shouldn't do anything until we know for sure!"

"I'm done listening to your bitchin'!" he shouted as he inserted the key and twisted it. "Aaaah!" he screamed. The sound of electricity flowing could be heard as Isaac quickly gave up on pulling out the key and fell to the ground. "God damn it!" he cried.

Alison's head turned and she quickly noticed something off against the wall. She walked over to a crippled, wooden table located off to the side of the room. "There's a cassette and box," she announced, quickly drawing Grace's and Kaden's attention. Roy and Isaac busy attending to their wounds.

Alison removed the first cassette from the recorder, placing it down on the table and inserted the new one that was set right next to the red box. Painted on the new cassette was the phrase 'Don't Use The First Key'.

Kaden walked past Isaac who continued to scowl and start at the ceiling, too humiliated to move.

Alison clicked play and the usual voice was heard. Roy's eyes widened as it hit him. The voice from his bedroom and the voice from the recordings… they were one and the same.

"Hello Isaac," the man's voice greeted. Isaac sat himself up and looked to Alison who had placed the cassette down and opened up the box, a set of photos neatly placed inside.

* * *

_To be continued…_


	4. Act I: Scene iii

* * *

Scene iii

* * *

"Hello Isaac," the sound of the man's voice drew Roy away from his bucket of cool water. He kept his arms in the bucket but his head was turned toward Alison who still held the recorder.

"How many lives have you single-handedly corrupted? Look in the box," Alison placed the recorder down on the table and followed the instructions. She looked through the small stack of photos; each one had Isaac giving a small bag or case of supplies to a different person. The same photo with Roy and Isaac was placed at the very end.

"As you can see, these people noted you as their 'go-to' man. They would pay you lavishly to continue to fuel their unhealthy addiction, and every time you would never disappoint; too impaired by greed to see the error of your ways. You lack an important piece to the puzzle, Isaac. That piece I speak of is _willpower_. Now your friends will be dragged along with you in a game; a game that will determine who has the weakest will." Isaac got up off the floor, recovered from electrocution, and made his way to Alison and the others.

"You will notice five pedestals in the room you're currently in. Each of you will step onto the assigned platform and a weight will drop on you. The first one to allow the weight to lower too far will meet their end; but a key that will unlock the sealed door before you will become available. Those who can physically carry more will be given a heavier weight, and vice versa, so everyone has an identical opportunity of survival. It is just mind over matter. Prove me wrong, Isaac—prove that I am mistaken in believing you will be the first to turn in your game piece. Hopefully," a small chuckle came from the recorder that caused Isaac's teeth to show themselves in frustration, "When this is over, you will all feel like a _weight_ has been lifted off your shoulders."

Isaac walked quickly toward the crippled table as the recording ended; Alison couldn't help but notice and kept on her toes. He made a grab for the recorder but Alison took it first. "Give me that damn thing!" he shouted, his intentions for the object were no doubt violent.

"Are you crazy?" she replied, "We need this cassette player!"

"I don't care! I'm gonna find another way outta this fucked up room!" he announced; his index finger pointed at the recorder, "So far, that thing has been nothing but a pain in my ass! It'll be a relief to see it smashed to pieces!"

"We have to follow the rules!" Grace shouted, "We need to keep that recorder! I don't want to die today! Besides, you already tried to find your own way out." She glanced over at the locked door, the first key still inserted in the lock, "Look how well that turned out."

"Never mind that. I doubt you'll find an antidote for our poisoned bodies, within an hour, anywhere else but here," said Kaden in his usual cold, stern voice. "So I suggest you help us play this damn game," he had his arms crossed and locked his eyes on Isaac who challenged Kaden with gritted teeth and squinted eyes.

He walked toward Kaden with his fist in the air. "You better watch what you say or else I'll tear your skinny ass," Isaac threatened. Kaden simply stared without a response.

"Hey!" Alison shouted, giving Isaac a hard push against his shoulder, causing him to stumble forward. "Leave him alone!" she demanded.

* * *

_Isaac walked down an apartment hallway; the rays of sunset light from behind the brown curtains gave the hallway a bronze-like color._

_Despite his size, Isaac stepped softly across the tattered rug. He stopped in front of a worn door, the knob slightly rusted. "Hm…" Isaac hummed, glancing down at a piece of paper with an address written down._

_Isaac had a knack for sensing a police setup to catch him red handed with drugs. But for some reason, this odd, and for the most part remote, apartment didn't give him that feeling. He decided to trust his gut and go on through._

_He gave a couple knocks on the door, Isaac meant to do a third but the door began to open and he stopped. "Hello?" he asked after a few seconds, hoping for some form of response._

_A dim light could be seen from the inside of the room. Isaac moved forward cautiously, opening the door with one hand while gripping a pocketknife with the other. "Hello?" he asked again._

_The door fully opened and he noticed the room was basically empty except for two things: the single light bulb hanging from the ceiling—and a black cloaked figure in a ghastly pig mask sitting in a chair placed at the center of the room._

"_Whoa," he gasped, stopping for a bit but quickly moved again. "Is that a doll?" he asked, noticing the figure wasn't moving._

_**Wham!**_

_The door behind Isaac suddenly shut and he spun around, pocketknife in one hand. _

_Another figure wearing a pig mask gave Isaac a jab with its fist to his face. Isaac stumbled back but quickly countered with a swing of his knife. The masked figure managed to duck but upon pulling its head back up Isaac slammed his forearm into its head, sending it to the ground. "You're dead!" he shouted, still feeling the throbbing pain of the punch._

_Isaac's attention was pulled to the first masked figure who was sitting in the chair. It had gotten up and walked toward Isaac. "C'mon!" Isaac shouted._

_Isaac swung at the walking figure with his knife but it swung its forearm up and it collided with Isaac's fist, knocking his hand back. The figure suddenly shot its other hand forward, a syringe was held and the needle was quickly stuck into Isaac's neck, "Aaah!" he shouted. The figure used its other hand to cover Isaac's mouth and push his head back a bit._

"_I hope you enjoy this taste of your own __**medicine**__, Isaac," the masked figure taunted in an all too familiar voice, the same from the recordings. His thumb pushed down onto the syringe and the fluid was injected into Isaac's body._

_Isaac's knife fell to the floor and his eyes twitched and he began to stumble backwards. The figure backed up and removed the bloody needle from Isaac's neck. He glanced down at the other masked figure who was just now beginning to get up._

"_You—you son of a…" Isaac slurred, his hand reached forward as if to grab the masked man, but his eyes were forced shut and he fell to the floor._

_

* * *

  
_

"You stupid bitch!" Isaac shouted; he turned around and pushed Alison to the ground with one hand. "The only reason I'm keepin' any of y'all alive is because I need to for this damn game!" he yelled.

"What the hell is your problem?" Grace screamed as Isaac tightened his fists.

"That's enough!" Roy shouted. It seemed whenever he raised his voice everyone quieted and listened. Roy's tone was incredibly harsh when it needed to be, no doubt from being a police officer.

The cop stood up, looking down at his arms first; they were wet and only slightly red, the vest pieces were no longer stuck onto them. Small patches of burnt skin and blood polluted the bucket of water.

"Look, we need to just do this," Roy said, watching as Grace helped Alison off the floor. "Jigsaw said there was poison in our blood right? The longer we wait the less time we'll have to get through the other challenges," Isaac didn't bother making eye contact with Roy, he simply fixed his eyes on the photos spread out on the table.

Kaden walked away from the group once Roy was finished and he stopped in front of a platform. The name 'Alison' was painted on it. "They each have a name on them," he told the group as he walked to the next. Kaden stepped onto the pedestal and the sound of a click became clear to everyone in the room. "I suggest we hurry and do this," he said.

Alison took the first cassette off of the nearby table with her free hand. She put it in her pants pocket, remembering that the tape recorder still held Isaac's cassette.

Everyone but Isaac moved forward to find their assigned platform, each placed within several yards of each other.

Stepping onto her stand, Grace heard several clicks from below her. "I think we need everyone on a platform before it can start," she announced.

Roy and Alison got onto theirs, the same clicking noise occurred.

Alison looked to the empty stand next to her; it was Isaac's. She then looked back to the wooden table but no one was there either. "Where's Isa—" she was cut off.

Isaac picked her up and pulled her off her pedestal. "Aaaah!" she screamed, "Let me go, Isaac!"

She kicked and yelled but Isaac didn't let go; he dropped her off at his own stand and gave her a punch to the face when she moved to get off. "You stay on this goddamn thing if you know what's good for you!" Isaac threatened as clicking went off under Alison's body.

"What are you doing?" Kaden asked in a stern voice, his first real sign of emotion so far.

Isaac ran back to Alison's stand as she was left on Isaac's, sitting down on the stand, holding her cheek and holding back her tears.

"Isaac! Get on your own stand!" Grace shouted, "Didn't you hear what Jigsaw told us?" Her eyes followed Isaac as he jumped onto Alison's stand, the clicking noise followed.

"Screw Jigsaw and his rules! I'm not dying today!" he said, "Let the weakest one die first."

With all five stands occupied, more tapping noises were heard, but above each person rather than below.

Roy hardly paid attention to all the noises; his eyes were set on Alison who began to get up. That's when he noticed something shaking above her head; it was a large dark object. "The—the weights!" Roy shouted, "They're falling!" He ripped his eyes off of Alison and looked above him.

A black weight fell from above each player, they held their hands up and their palms met with the falling weight. "Aaagh!" Roy shouted, in pain from the weight landing on his hands' burn wounds.

Kaden glanced up at the weight above him, his body straightened up and he held his hands up high. "It's heavier than I thought…" he muttered to himself. He assumed at this rate, he'd have to let it drop in a matter of minutes.

Alison groaned as the seconds went by, the weight was incredibly heavy on her weak arms. She shut her eyes tightly and attempted to push the weight up higher but it wouldn't move more than a few inches. Isaac was taller and stronger than she was, this weight definitely wasn't made for her. "Help me!" she shouted, her eyes opened and she looked at the ground; what appeared to be four blades began to emerge from the floor.

"Damn it, Isaac!" Grace shouted, her voice filled with fury, "This is unfair!"

A smile curled over Isaac's face, "Yeah? Well _life_ isn't fair, sweetheart." He chuckled as he looked up at his weight, this was nothing compared to what he trained with. "Maybe I should've just taken my weight. It would've made a great work out," he bragged as he looked around at the others. "Yeah!" he shouted. Isaac's hands pushed up against the weight and his feet pushed down harder on the foundation he stood on. The clicking continued.

Roy's heart sank as he watched Alison move lower and lower to the stand below her. Her knees were shaking and her arms struggled to keep the weight up. Even with all of his wounds and burns… Alison was still having a harder time than Roy.

Did he really deserve his life? After all the people he hurt: his family, his friends—his _wife_. How normal of a life would he return even if he was to survive all of this? Would everyone he knew be so willing to forgive and forget?

"Hold on, Alison!" Roy hollered.

He began to bend his knees, lowering himself closer to the pedestal. Roy closed his eyes and began to move his hands lower as well; the weight was still placed on his palms.

Roy was willing to give the ultimate sacrifice for someone who, he felt, deserved life.

_Shiiing! _

Suddenly, four scythes shot up from the floor with lightning speed; blood splattered against the wall as Grace shut her eyes and turned her head away from the gruesome scene. Kaden, on the other hand, couldn't help but watch. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped only slightly, "Jesus Christ," he muttered.

Each of the four scythe heads were deeply piercing flesh at a different angle. One hit the heart, one hit the lungs, and the other two hit the back. Each time the heart pumped another line of blood sprayed forward from an open wound; it landed in front of Alison.

Isaac's hands shook while his feet trembled. Isaac's eyes looked down at his own chest, and he realized with terror that this was the end. Blood ran down each of the scythes as more dripped from his mouth. He took a breath in but he gave out a cough of blood. Isaac's lungs were filling with it and he would soon drown. "Er—r—ack!" Isaac groaned and let his arms fall to his side, his head nodded forward.

The weight above his head fell and landed on the back of his neck.

_Crrrack!_

A bloodcurdling _snap_ came from Isaac's neck as his mouth fully opened, great quantities of blood oozed out at a disturbing rate, and it splattered as it hit the floor.

The weights, with the exception of Isaac's, began to reel back up as Isaac's corpse leaned forward a bit. It was protected from falling by the blood-drenched scythes.

* * *

_To be continued…_


	5. Act I: Scene iv

Scene iv

* * *

Isaac's dead body leaned against the bloodied scythes that were still submerged into his flesh. The red liquid continued dripping to the floor; a puddle of blood had been created underneath Isaac.

With the weights beginning to real up, Alison let her arms drop down and she let out a scream, "Oh my God!" She grabbed her mouth and looked at Isaac's corpse with wide eyes.

"Roy," Kaden muttered as he glanced over to the officer who had been lowering himself to let the scythes kill him before they killed Alison, "How are you not_—_"

_Click—click_

The platforms beneath them made another clicking noise and they rose up a few inches.

"We can't fool him," Grace said, quoting what Jigsaw had told them in the first room. "Look at his stand," she said, pointing to Isaac's pedestal, "He was too heavy to be on Alison's stand; the base lowered and caused those blades to come up."

She couldn't keep her eyes off of Isaac, and neither any of them. To see someone die so ferociously was unsettling.

Roy was on his knees, staring straight at Isaac. He almost felt as if he was the one who died. Roy was just about to throw away his life to save Alison's. Instead, by mere luck of being too slow, Isaac was the one who was dead. "Just a few more seconds, and…" he muttered to himself.

Stepping off his stand, Kaden walked toward the four scythes. He went to each one, looking up and down, examining them. Kaden stopped at one and bent down, ignoring the puddle of blood by his feet. "Hey, I found the key," he announced to his teammates.

With one hand pushing against the scythe, which was wet with blood, Kaden pulled forward with his other hand, removing a key that was lodged into the scythes side.

Kaden stood up and shook his hand. "Ew," he said as drops of blood flung to the floor.

He moved for the door but stopped, Kaden looked back at the three other remaining players. "Well? Come on," he urged.

"'Come on'?" Alison asked, shocked, "Didn't you see what just happened?"

"I saw that you almost died. I don't feel any remorse for him," Kaden stated. He waited a moment, noticing that the others were still not ready to move, "Or we can wait and see if the weights will fall again."

The three survivors gave each other a glance and within a few seconds they stepped off.

"Are you ok?" Roy asked as he walked by Alison's side.

"Yeah, don't worry about me," she said while holding her face. It was still red from Isaac's punch.

A sense of awkwardness was around them, Roy was expecting some sort of comment about his willing sacrifice but he never received any appreciation.

Kaden stopped in front of the locked door. He stared down at the key previously used by Isaac in the lock. "What's wrong?" Roy asked.

"The key, it'll shock me. Remember?" Kaden responded, in fear that if he attempted to remove the key he would receive the same punishment that was given to Isaac.

"We need a shirt or something," Grace said, looking from the door to Kaden.

"I'm afraid I don't have any more vests to give," Kaden said with a shrug.

Alison gave a small sigh and grabbed her shirt's sleeve. With a hard tug the sleeve ripped off; it matched her other sleeveless arm from when she had to pick up the boiling hot key from the floor.

Kaden wrapped the sleeve around his hand and gripped the key tight; he gave a hard tug back but the key refused to budge. "Damn it," he groaned as he pressed his other hand against the door and pulled back again. The key flew out of the lock and from Kaden's hand; it bounced off and slid across the floor.

Kaden pulled out a new, longer, key from his pocket and looked at Grace, "Hey, could you—?"

"Yeah," she quickly responded and walked away from the others to fetch the key.

The key was inserted into the lock and Kaden gave it a twist. Many clanks and the grinding of metal gears could be heard from behind the door. A final loud snap could be heard directly in front of them and the door moved open just an inch.

Kaden pushed open the door and walked inside as Roy followed. Alison turned her head and stared at Isaac once more. Blood continued dripping from his backside, and the scythes still dug into his skin. She winced and ripped her eyes away from the scene and moved into the next room.

"Jesus Christ," Roy muttered. He coughed and held his hand over his nose, "What's that damn smell?"

Roy's eyes wandered up to the ceiling and found several dim and flicking florescent light bulbs. The wooden floor was cold and quickly began to bother his bare feet. Two black sheets were covering objects placed in the room. Next to the first sheet a cassette tape was set and what appeared to be broken bits of a recorder were scattered about the room.

On the wall of the room was a single phrase written in some sort of red substance, 'The Most Truthful Liar Of All.'

"Ugh," Alison said with a disgusted look on her face as she exchanged glances with Roy.

She moved to the first black sheet and looked down at it, there was a hump in the sheet, and there was no doubt a human body underneath. "Pull it off, Alison," said Kaden.

Alison took another step forward and her eyes darted to her feet. "Oh, ew!" she cringed as she stepped back from the puddle of blood she just stepped in.

Grace slipped past the door to the new room with the key she had gone to find in her pocket. "Who died?" she asked with a cough, covering her mouth and nose from the foul odor.

Bending her back in order to keep her feet from the blood, Alison grabbed the black sheet and moved backwards, the sheet was pulled off the body.

Alison let the sheet drop to the floor and her eyes widened while she stared at the body before her.

Not a word was spoken for several moments before Roy muttered, "No… he can't be…"

Kaden looked over to Roy, "Who is that—" he was interrupted by Alison's shrill scream.

"Oh my God!" she cried out as she stepped forward and fell to her knees, the blood beneath her splashed as her hand grabbed the man's dark brown hair. "No, no, no!" Alison's eyes filled with tears as her other hand grabbed his blood-covered shirt.

Alison looked over the corpse, its right arm was completely mangled, and parts of the bone could be seen and strips of flesh hung off of it.

"Steven!" Alison cried out as she lifted him up by his neck, her other hand stopped on his back, "Oh my God!" She lifted up Steven's body even more so she could look at his back, the clothing and skin was torn and twisted, the spine was almost clearly visible and appeared to be badly cut and broken.

She let go of his body and she quickly stood up and backed away. Alison's fingers curled as she backed up into the wall and let herself drop down to a crouching position. "It's—it's Steven, Roy!" she cried out, her grief-stricken body shook as tears rolled down her face.

"God damn it!" Roy cried out as he shook his head and moved toward Steven. "He didn't deserve this!" he shouted as he looked around the room at the walls, as if he expected someone to answer.

Roy knelt down by Steven's body, a red box by his head. He lifted it up and looked inside, a few photos were stacked on top of one another. The photos simply had Steven pulling out a small knife from under his pillow, the scars on his arms clearly visible. The pictures appeared as if they were taken from outside his window.

"Who is that?" Kaden finally asked. He kept his distance from the officer.

"My stepbrother," Roy said with a frown on his face. He clenched his fists and tossed the photos into the box. "I—" he stopped talking and stood up. Roy stared down at the red box before him.

His foot slammed against the box and sent it across the room, breaking into further pieces as it hit the floor. "Who's taking all these fucking pictures?" Roy shouted as he watched the box smash from the other side of the room.

Tension filled the room as Grace and Kaden quietly watched the other two struggle.

Roy turned around and sat down, his eyes locked onto the cassette that was simply lying on the floor. He reached for it and pulled it toward him, a wire snapped from the cassette and as it did the door to the previous room into slammed shut.

Kaden quickly moved back to the door and pushed against it and tried to pull it. "It's locked. Again," he said with a sigh.

Roy looked at the cassette; it had the words 'Play Me' painted on it. "Alison, the recorder," he said in a low voice.

Alison sat still for a moment but she soon pulled out the recorder and slid it across the floor to Roy. The cop removed the older cassette and placed in the new one he took from the floor and hit the play button.

"Hello Steven. You have spent the last few years of your life abusing the precious endowment that your parents gave to you. Your body," the voice from the recorder said as Roy placed the recorder on the ground, listening to what Jigsaw had told Steven.

"I am giving you the chance to feel that pain your loved ones have felt, and if you succeed, you will also have the chance to move on, move on from yourself. There is a box in front of you; needles and spikes—" Roy's eyes moved up to the second black sheet. He stood up and moved to it as the recording continued.

Roy pulled off the sheet, a simple saw fell to the floor and a glass box was revealed, needles and spikes filled it. Patches of fleshy skin hung off the needles and a small pool of blood sat on the bottom of the box.

"What will it be, Steven? Cut your wrist, or cut your _spine_? Live or die. Make your choice. Let the game begin," the recording ended and another cry came from Alison.

"You sick fuck!" Alison shouted as she began to sob uncontrollably, her arms covered her head and her shoulders violently shook.

Roy took little notice of the saw and moved to the tape recorder, picking it up from the floor and removing the cassette. "Where's the rest?" he asked, worried about the time they had left before the poison took effect. Although he couldn't help but feel like he wasn't paying enough attention to his stepbrother's death. But as an officer, he had seen enough crime scenes to try to ignore it for now.

Poor Alison could not.

Roy flipped the cassette and a different phrase was written on the back, 'Play Me 2.' He stuck it into the recorder and looked at Alison, "Hey, Alison…" he said with a frown but Alison refused to respond. "I don't know how much more time we have. We need to get through this and we can mourn all we want later." Roy said, attempting to sound as kind as possible.

"Just play the damn tape, then!" Alison screamed as she looked at Roy with her red, watery eyes.

The officer followed orders and clicked play.

"Hello Alison. If you're hearing this, then that means Steven has failed his test," the recorder began to play the cassette. "You once said you had a very happy relationship with Steven. You helped Steven through his troubled high school life and told him you loved him. You said you'd protect and care for him. What happened Alison? After one party you ended up cheating on the young man who would do _anything_ for you. His heart was broken and he left you. _You_—Alison, were the straw that broke the camel's back. It wasn't his family's neglect or his stepbrother's drug addiction."

Alison buried her head back into her arms and began to sob again; she bit her lip tightly in an attempt to stop the tears.

"You were the one that caused him to begin abusing his body. He was able to move on, start a new relationship for someone that truly cared for him. But you couldn't move on, you couldn't let go. You continued to cause him harm; you sent him messages and attempted to persuade him into taking you back. You told him you still loved him. If you truly loved him you would've moved on from him and let his wounds heal. Now I'm going to give you the same chance to redeem yourself as I gave Steven. There is a key inside your former lover's body, the same key he struggled to obtain to save his life. The saw you see before you is what you will use to look for the key. Cut Steven one last time to save yourself Alison. Then, and only then, will you be able to move on. Take the key and you will take—back—your—life. But hurry, the timer should be starting soon. If you don't get the key before time is up…" suddenly red numbers appeared on the other side of the room and they began to count down from two hundred seconds, "You will be stuck in this room forever. Live or die. Make your choice. Let the game begin."

* * *

_To be continued…_


	6. Act I: Scene v

Scene v

* * *

"No, no, no," Alison cried as her head remained buried in her arms and she continued her attempt to keep from crying.

"Alison," Roy called, his foot hit the saw that lay on the ground and slid it closer to Steven's body. "You need to hurry; we don't have very much time," he informed, glancing back at the timer that continued to count down.

"Then do it your God damn self!" she screamed, her hands pounded against the floor and her head slammed back into the wall she sat against. "I can't do it, Roy," she confessed, tears still rolling down her face as she stared up at the ceiling, "please; help me."

Roy looked down at his hands, they were still partially black and the muscle beneath the skin still visible on some parts of his arm. "My hands, Alison," his hands weren't recovered enough to do much of anything.

Giving a small sigh, Kaden looked over at Grace, "Should we…help?" he asked.

"I don't think it'd be such a good idea to ignore the rules, this isn't our game; it's Alison's. You remember what happened to Isaac, right?" she said, keeping her eyes fixed on the timer as Kaden moved his vision toward the glass box.

Her lip quivering, Alison crawled forward to Steven's corpse. She stopped and sat to the side of him, examining her former lover's body. His eyes were wide open, the color remained, but they seemed unnatural and lifeless. His skin was also very pale from having been dead for several days and the dangerous loss of blood.

She reached over and grabbed the saw by its dirty handle and placed her free hand on Steven's stomach. "Steven…" she whispered. She could feel herself slipping away into another sob. The fact that he was dead hadn't fully attached itself to her mind. It seemed like it was just some bad dream, and now she had to cut through him with a rusty saw. It was just too surreal.

"Alison! Hurry!" Roy shouted, he looked back at the timer and saw how close it was to reaching one hundred seconds.

"Roy, I can't!" she yelled, and glanced over to him, "I'm sorry I—I…"

"Damn it, Alison!" his voice echoed throughout the small room they were in, "just fucking do it or we're all gonna die because you're too big of a pussy to—!"

The officer was cut off by the sound of Alison's bawling. Rather than sitting and doing nothing, her free hand grabbed Steven's shirt tightly and began to saw into his abdomen in hopes that the key had perhaps been swallowed and was now stuck in his intestines.

Alison moved her hand forward and back, Steven's gut made cringing squishing noises as blood spewed against Alison's shirt. Her wailing continued as she finished making the deep cut into his stomach. She dropped the saw and grabbed the fresh slit with both hands and pulled upward, a stream of blood blasting forward. Alison ripped the flap of stomach upward. It made an unsettling sucking sound as the skin detached from Steven's abdomen.

* * *

_The sun was beginning to rise, dim rays of sun were shining through the red curtains in front of the windows. This gave the room a rosy glow to it._

_Sitting on her bed, Alison had a cell phone to her ear. The sound of ringing was very soft. A few moments passed before the ringing turned into an answering machine. "I'm not in right now, leave a message and I'll try to get back to you," came Steven's voice from the recording._

_Alison sighed in unison with the 'beep', "Hi Steven; it's Alison again. You haven't answered your phone in a few days; I'm getting worried about you. I was wondering if whenever you're available we could do something together—as friends. I just haven't seen you in a few months and I kind of miss—"_

_A long beep interrupted Alison and she let her hand drop to her side. "Maybe he went out somewhere with his… girlfriend," she said in an attempt to comfort herself; but all Alison could think about now was how Steven was no longer with her._

_She dialed Steven's number into the phone once more and placed it up to her ear. The ringing began and a loud knock was heard at her door. "Uh, hello?" she asked._

_The knocking continued and Alison simply stared at the door, "I'm on the phone, Dad," she stated._

_The knocking was even louder this time and she walked to the door in a huff, the phone still on her ear. "Dad, I'm busy," Alison said as she opened the door. "Aaah—!" she cried, her screams were muffled by the figure in the pig mask who covered Alison's mouth with its hand._

_It pushed Alison into the wall and used its free hand to pin one of her arms against the wall; the phone dropped to the floor as Alison continued her muffled cries for help._

_A second masked figure walked through the door and introduced a syringe into Alison's neck; the fluid inside the hypodermic was injected into her veins._

_Her eyes slowly shut and she fell to the floor while the two masked assailants looked on._

* * *

The skin was separated and Steven's intestines were visible; Alison moved through the pinkish organs. She continued to cry as she pulled them out from the hole now in Steven's stomach. "Where is it… where is it?" Alison asked, almost choking on her own sobbing.

She pressed down against parts of the bloody intestines, but no key could be felt.

Alison grabbed the saw and began to carve away at a small sack-like organ inside of the opening, Steven's stomach. Syrupy liquid gushed out from the gut as Alison then ripped it apart, nothing could be found.

She dug through the gap in Steven's abdomen, pushing away smaller organs as her frustration grew. "Come on!" she screamed as her sobs increased. Alison lifted her hands slightly and looked at them, they were covered with blood and small streams of it ran through the openings in-between her fingers.

Roy stood next to the locked door, watching the ever-increasing pool of blood beneath Alison's legs. Roy looked back up at the timer that was set onto the door, his eyes widened and he shouted, "Alison! We only have thirty seconds left!"

Her panic started again and her hands worked vigorously as she further stirred the organs in Steven's body. "Damn it, c'mon!" Alison shouted as she began to rip apart the intestines that lay on the ground. They made moist popping sounds as dark colored liquid poured from them.

Alison's eyes moved to Steven's chest. Her hands felt around his shirt and then dug into his pants. "Please, please…" she pleaded as she continued to search for the key.

She moved her hand up to Steven's neck and felt around, two bumps could be felt, one was his Adam's apple and the other was, no doubt, the key.

"Yes, yes!" Alison said as she attempted to push her hand into Steven's mouth. There was no way it was going to fit in his mouth and down his throat.

Her hands scrambled around the floor, feeling for the saw. Alison gripped the handle and pushed down on Steven's head with her free hand. She sawed with intensity as blood ran down the sides of his neck and covered the teeth of the saw.

With the new cut made, Alison dropped the saw and reached into Steven's throat, she grabbed the blood-covered key and pulled it out. "I have it, I have it!" Alison shouted, the key raised into the air.

"Throw it!" Roy demanded, looking up at the clock; there were literally seconds left.

Alison threw the key in Roy's direction. The officer bent over and caught the key in his hands. He turned around and inserted the key into the hole; Roy twisted it quickly, causing the timer to shut off.

A sigh of relief came from Roy as several metallic clicks came from behind the locked door. He gave a chuckle of anxiety and turned around to look at Alison who was no longer excited.

The girl sat in a pool of her ex-boyfriend's blood, her pants drenched with the liquid and her shirt slightly wet.

She could no longer bear to look at Steven's body; she couldn't even cover her face to cry, for her hands were covered with blood.

Grace made the first move and walked over to Alison, Kaden simply walked around them and towards Roy who was staring at the poor girl.

Taking off her shirt and leaving only a black tang top underneath, Grace handed it to Alison. "Here," Grace said without a smile on her face.

Alison took the shirt and began to rub her hands; tears began to fall from her face once more and onto the shirt. Grace kept a safe distance away from the puddle of blood but rubbed Alison's shoulder in hopes to comfort her. "Take your time…it's ok." Grace told her.

Kaden stopped next to Roy, nudging his head toward the door, "Hey, shouldn't we open it?"

"I don't want another game to start. Let's wait," Roy suggested, his arms folded over his chest as he continued to watch the two girls.

A harsh cough came from Kaden's throat, drawing the attention of Roy. "What the hell…" Kaden said, looking down at his hand, a small splatter of blood was visible.

"The poison," Roy said, looking up at Kaden's face, which was filled with worry and confusion. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Kaden wiped his hand against his pants and gave a hard exhale, "Nothing." He looked at his dry hand and shook his head slightly, "Why am I being affected?" he muttered to himself.

* * *

_To be continued…_


	7. Act I: Scene vi

Scene vi

* * *

Roy looked at Kaden's face; he seemed to be confused about he blood he had just coughed up. Roy glanced away from Kaden as the man continued to mutter to himself. Roy changed his vision to Alison who was now beginning to stand.

Moving away from the puddle of blood and using Grace's shirt, Alison was attempting to dry the blood from her sweatpants but to no avail. Alison gave a sigh and let the bloody shirt drop to the dirty floor. Wet with Steven's blood, Alison was able to easily rip off the bottom part of her pants, leaving the pants pieces on the ground; this left her with a pair of sweat shorts.

"Alison, the recorder," Grace reminding her.

Alison bent over and picked it up. "Don't worry, I know," she said while wiping away leftover tears from her eyes.

The two girls walked over to the next door. "Alright. We should go," Grace suggested.

Kaden followed his usual role of 'doorman' and pushed the metallic door forward. It swung open gradually and was stopped by its various, rusty, hinges, giving off a shrill groan as it came to a stop.

Roy stepped onto the tiled floor, unable to tell if it was dirty or not by its brownish color. The four survivors walked into the eerily empty, and small, room. Only a few objects could be found inside: another locked door at the end of the room, to side of the door was a container surrounded by steel which had only a very small opening at the top, inside the container was a pedal of some sort, a wire connected the container to the hinges of the door. Just above the container were two steel bars that were attached to the wall, a saw blade sticking out from the middle of the bars and a worn away, red button just above the bars. And right in the center of the room was a wooden table with a crimson colored box placed on top of it. All the while a single light bulb was connected to the ceiling, providing a small amount of light to see.

The officer looked down at Kaden's pants. A red mark was left from the blood that he wiped off his hand after he coughed into it. "Best not to waste any time," Roy told Alison who held the recorder, "We probably don't have a lot of it left."

Alison nodded her head and silently walked towards the table; still making an attempt to recover from the last game by pushing away her emotions. Roy was right; she could mourn all she wanted afterwards. For now, she had to live. Alison needed that antidote.

She wasn't doing this to see Steven again, but rather…she was doing it for herself; Alison was doing it to move on.

She opened the box and saw one object inside of it: a cassette with the name 'Kaden' painted on the front in black ink. There was not a photo in sight, nothing but the lone cassette.

Removing the previous cassette from the recorder, Alison put inside the new one. She walked forward to Kaden a bit, looking him in the eyes. "It has your name on it," she informed him.

Kaden's eyebrows lowered and he glanced down at the recorder, just in time to see Alison hit the play button.

"Hello, Kaden," came the same voice from the recording, as influential as ever.

"For the past few years, your entire life has been filled with lies, lies which even I have not been able to understand. But there is a single important lie that you have been keeping from your friends. A lie which I believe should be announced to them," Kaden stared at the recorder and held his breath while the others stared at him. Their curiosity was booming.

"You were the one who started my game; you were the one who cuffed each of the players to the pole, and you were the one who put the key in the stove," Roy's eyes looked at Kaden with intense wrath.

Kaden was the reason why Roy had to stick his hands into the stove? The officer gritted his teeth. He remembered what Kaden had told him in the first room.

_"Knock it off!" Kaden said, turning his head towards the shouting Isaac. "Panicking will get us nowhere. Look," he nudged his head to the side of Roy and Alison, "you both can reach that stove. See what's there."_

Now it made sense.

"Listen carefully now Kaden, go to the table before you and check underneath it," Jigsaw said as Kaden walked past Alison who didn't bother to even glance at him.

Kaden simply patted underneath the table and a smile appeared on his face. "There is no doubt you will need this for your own protection against your angry teammates," Kaden pulled out a long knife from beneath it, and he ripped away the tape that had previously held it to the bottom of the table.

"Now you will help me again. I want you to decide, Kaden, which one of you is the most unworthy of the life they possess. There is a container at the end of the room, fill that container with blood and the door to the penultimate trap will be revealed. Choose wisely, and choose only one, Kaden. Who will live or die? The choice is yours. Let the game begin." The recording ended with a click and the room was filled with the silence.

Suddenly, the silence shattered. "You were the one who chained us together to that damn pole?" Alison shouted to Kaden; she turned around and gripped the recorder in her hand tightly.

"I'm also the one who poisoned you," he said with a small chuckle. Kaden no longer had fear of telling the truth.

"What?" Grace shouted, she took a step toward Kaden, "You fucking did this to us?" Her eyes were filled with fury as she looked over at Roy who was completely silent.

"I woke up before any of you," Kaden began—

_Kaden wakes up in an almost completely dark room, a recorder by his side and the bodies of Isaac, Alison, Roy, and Grace near him._

"Jigsaw gave me two choices: to either give everyone a syringe injection and drag you to the room to the right…"

_The recorder plays and gives Kaden, who is now looking over to five syringes lined up inside of a vial container, directions._

"…Or to leave the syringes be and drag everyone to the other room."

_Kaden picks up each syringe and carefully injects the yellowish fluid inside into each of the unconscious bodies before him._

"So instead, I injected the poison into all of your except for me," he said with a smile.

_Kaden picks up the last syringe for a moment but chuckles and places it back into the container._

"Meaning I don't have a thing to worry about," Kaden explained with a single laugh.

_He drags each body through a doorway, cuffing each of them to the large chain before tying a key to the back of the stove and cuffing himself to the chain attached to the pole._

Grace was speechless, her mouth was open and she shook her head slightly; she appeared to be struggling to find the right words to scold Kaden with.

"I'm not sure whether to be angry with you or grateful," Roy said with a frown. Alison and Grace shot their heads to the officer with surprised expressions on their faces. "Sure, my hands are burned, but I got my life back. I can go home and really live again," he said with a shrug. "This was better than any therapy I could've gotten." Roy looked into Alison's eyes with a smile.

It took a moment, but it appeared she understood exactly what Roy was talking about.

"Regardless…" Kaden said quickly.

"Alison—!" Grace shouted.

Kaden grabbed a handful of Alison's brown hair with his free hand and pulled her in toward him. He held the knife in his other hand and pressed it against her neck. "…Someone still needs to die," he said.

"Let me go!" Alison screamed; she began to struggle a bit but she quickly stopped as she felt the cold, metal blade press hard against her neck. It was ready to draw blood.

Kaden gave a scoff, "I wouldn't try to pull a fast one," he warned her.

"Kaden, look, we can forgive you for what you did to us. We understand; you had to do what you did. You were just playing Jigsaw's game," Roy told him.

"He didn't even do what he was told!" Grace shouted with rage, "He didn't even inject himself with the syringe like Jigsaw told him to!"

Roy gave Grace a stern look; she understood what he wanted and silently stared at Kaden instead.

"We can figure out another way out of this. Maybe we can fill the container with something else besides blood," the cop suggested. He looked at Alison who was quite calm but appeared to be holding back tears once again.

Kaden shook his head, "Not gonna happen. The only thing I need to figure out is which one of you I need to kill. Which one of you do I think is the least deserving of their life?" He looked over at Grace who still stared at him. "I haven't heard shit about you. What have you done to get in here?" he asked with a smile.

"I helped kill a couple people," she said quickly, looking down at the ground but than right back at Kaden. "Why don't you just let her go; take me instead? I've done worse than she has," Grace told him.

"Ooh," Kaden said with a shake of his head. "I don't know about that. You _helped_ kill two people; but Alison here seems to be the _direct_ cause of Steven's death. Why he was put here in the first place; she's the one that made him cut himself. It's a tough call. Roy seems to have learned his lesson, but Alison…I don't know," he debated with a chuckle.

"We can talk this out Kad—" Alison was interrupted by the knife once more, pressing a bit harder on her neck; a single, thin stream of blood ran down her neck.

"I don't think there's going to be anymore talking for you," Kaden said. "It's different when you step into Jigsaw's shoes. There are so many people undeserving of their lives. How can I choose only one?"

Roy walked forward, not toward Kaden or Alison, however. He walked around them, toward the locked door.

"I wouldn't bother, Roy. That door ain't budgin'," Kaden said, his eyes followed Roy slightly, but he made sure to look back at Grace every second or so.

"Roy," Alison said in a hushed tone, but loud enough for him to hear her.

The officer took in a nervous breath of air and stopped in front of the container. He looked down at it; a small opening was visible, just enough room to fit his index finger into it. Roy's mouth was dry, as were likely everyone else's. It would impossible to come up with enough saliva to weight down the small pedal in the container.

"Get back here Roy, please," Kaden ordered. He pulled back Alison's hair a bit tighter.

"Roy! What are you doing?" Grace asked, her hands out to her side as she watched him.

Roy grabbed the two steel bars above the container; they curved sort of like a railing. They were up to his torso and were spread out by about two feet.

The officer looked forward at the worn, red button and than down at the saw blade. Its teeth were razor-sharp and spotless, not a trace of rust to be found.

Luckily the button was aligned almost perfectly with his forehead. Roy moved closer and placed his abdomen against the blade, his head pressed hard against the wall and pushed the button.

"Roy!" Alison shouted as Kaden pulled her hair back a bit, but he couldn't help but move his vision to the officer.

Roy took his final breath of blood-free air.

_Reeeeee!_

As the button clicked the saw's blade pushed out another few inches and began to spin rapidly. "Gaaah!!" Roy shouted and his eyes slammed shut.

The blade mangled his white shirt; the fabric flew in all directions. The blade's teeth shredded his skin from his body and blood, every few moments, would churn out from his stomach and against the wall before him.

Roy continued to scream with pain as the spinning blade began to move upwards. The blade cut and severed Roy's intestines; so rather than blood, sappy organ fluids began to fill the container.

"Oh God, Roy, no!" Grace shouted, her body trembled as Alison twisted and turned her body. Alison was attempting to see what was happening to Roy, but Kaden paid little attention to her, for he was too busy watching the blood run down from his stomach.

The blade cut through the middle of his stomach and unexpectedly a mix of blood and syrupy, green, bodily liquids forcefully splattered against the wall. "Aaah!!!" Roy shrieked with great intensity; his eyes shot open to see not just his insides, but also the insides of his organs. Globs of dark blood trickled down from his mouth and hit the container below and burst into many droplets.

The sound of the blade carving through bone could be heard clearly, for the officer stopped his screamed. He let go of the steel bars before him and let himself drop backwards. The bars were dripping with blood and had patches of skin stuck to them, not from Roy's torso's blood, but his hands. He gripped the bars so firmly it reopened the burn wounds on his hands.

Roy fell back and away from the blade that continued spinning, it refused to let go of Roy without peeling away a strip of his skin first.

He landed with a hard thud as the door next to him began to unlock, clicking sounds could be heard as it shook slightly and opened an inch or so.

Kaden's grip was loosened and Alison broke free, he didn't bother to care, for the blood that was needed had been supplied.

"Roy!" Alison yelled as she ran toward Roy's distorted body. The frantic female prayed to God he was still alive.

* * *

_To be continued…_


	8. Act I: Scene vii

Scene vii

* * *

"Roy, no!" Alison cried out; she stopped next to Roy and knelt down next to him.

From a distance Grace watched on with sorrowful eyes, her teeth biting down on her finger in anxiousness and worry. Kaden held a small smile across his face as he finished watching the previously locked door open. The blood and organ fluids that filled the container had released the locks on the door.

"Please, Roy…no," Alison looked over Roy's body, the officer didn't give any signs of life, but Alison noticed something.

Because Roy and Steven weren't actual brothers they didn't look alike, but now their resemblance was frightening. They both lay on the ground in their own pool of blood, their organs hacked and mashed, while at least one of their arms were covered with dried blood and looked like a mess.

"You were going to get your life back, Roy…why? Why couldn't you have just lived?" she said with a sob as she ignored the blood on Roy's hand and held it tightly.

Suddenly, Roy's hand clasped Alison's. "T—tell…" Roy began as Alison looked up at Roy's eyes in shock. Dark colored blood streamed down from Roy's mouth as his stomach moved with great intensity; if Alison had glanced down she would've seen his remaining organs pumping violently. "…Jade I'm s—sorry," he asked of Alison with tears and pain in his eyes.

"Don't die!" she quickly screamed, both of her hands held Roy's now. "We'll get you help, you'll be okay!" Alison tried to assure.

But even in the muck of Roy's dying mind, _he_ could even tell his life wasn't going to last another half a minute.

Alison brought his hand up to her and wet his reopened wounds with her tears. She was sobbing uncontrollably once more; the loss of two dear people to her in a matter of ten minutes was too much for the poor girl to bear.

Taking in a deep breath of air Roy spoke one last time to the crying girl that gave him so much comfort in his time here and helped aid him in his recovery—

"…Live your life."

Alison could feel Roy's hand let go of her's, and she could feel his whole arm suddenly go limp. "Roy!" she cried again as she shook his arm back and forth, in hopes that he would suddenly come back to life.

She wept for the loss of her friend's life; just as he understood why he was put in this game he was taken right out. In Alison's eyes, Roy was the most _deserving_ person of life. How ironic it was that he was the one to die.

"All right, enough of this," Kaden said with a huff, his knife pointed at Grace, "I want to hurry up and win this thing," he said as Grace simply scowled at him. "That is…unless you want your blood to join Roy's there," he nudged his head towards the container of blood at the other end of the room.

As badly as Grace wanted to cuss him out, she bit her tongue and walked toward Alison and the dead officer. What else could she do? Kaden had a knife.

"Come on Alison," Grace sighed, her hands rubbed Alison's quivering shoulders. But she did not budge.

"Let's go!" Kaden shouted to the two girls. He held his knife tightly and pointed it toward the two as means to threaten them.

Turning her head toward Kaden, Alison responded, "Go to hell you asshole!"

A scowl formed on Kaden's face and he moved closer. Grace backed away from the two. "Listen to me you little bitch, if you don't go into that damn room—"

Kaden stopped talking as Alison got up and attempted to punch him. Instead, Kaden grabbed her fist with his free hand and turned it upside down, showing Alison's veiny arm. He pulled it in towards and quickly ran the blade of his knife across her arm.

"Aaah!" she screamed as blood flung from her forearm and onto the ground.

Kaden released his grip on Alison and used the same hand to forcefully push her into the steel door behind her. It fully opened, and she fell to the floor.

Alison sat up and gripped her right arm; a stream of blood flowed from it. She glared up at Kaden with great wrath in her eyes.

Kaden smiled and replied, "I bet Steven would've enjoyed that."

Her rage doubled and if it wasn't for Grace who had come to her side and said, "Come on, forget it," she might've tried, once again, to kill him.

Grace and Alison walked into the room with Kaden trailing behind. They glanced briefly around the room with the dirty, tiled, floor and the ceiling, which held but a single dim light bulb. This room was almost just as empty as the last room with the exception of an elevator at the end of the room. Spikes and needles stuck out from the walls of the elevator along with the ceiling.

The three looked around the room for a red box or cassette lying around, but there were none to be found. Rather, on the side of the room was a small stand with a rectangular shaped hole in the center.

"The recorder," Kaden said, his eyes focused on the hole rather than Alison's face. He knew the crude look he would receive from her if he looked at the young woman.

Alison avoided eye contact with Kaden as she walked toward the stand. She did not say a word to him. She had no intention of ever making amends with Kaden.

Reaching into her cassette-filled pocket, Alison placed the recorder into the slot on the stand. Glass suddenly slit over to the top of the recorder, making it impossible to retrieve it.

"What?" she muttered in confusion. Her hands banged against the glass screen that covered the recorder.

A rusty, old, intercom attached to the top corner of the room turned on and static was all that could be heard from the speaker for a few seconds before the it cleared.

"Hello remaining game players, and welcome," Jigsaw's voice said as the steel door the three game in through slammed shut. The echo rang through the room.

"You all have gone through challenges and traps that have no doubt engraved themselves into your minds. But have any of you truly learned what I've been trying to teach you? There are only two games left, and the one who has fully learned this lesson will find that the final task is the easiest of them all," the voice filled the room and echoed. It was much louder than the cassette player had been.

"Look around you. You will all notice there is a needle-filled elevator at the end of the room. For the elevator to run there must be at least one person inside. But be warned; it is a one-way trip and once you go down, and you cannot come back up. Once the elevator has lowered the next door and final game will be revealed, and the antidote, along with your freedom, will be just beyond that door. Act quickly though, for in three minutes the elevator will never work and you all will be trapped in this room. So…live or die. Make your choice. Let the game begin," a loud click erupted from the intercom as it shut off.

Alison looked around the room and noticed something for the first time, "Where's the second door?"

"Well," Kaden said, "you heard him. Once the elevator has lowered the final door will be revealed." The man pointed out his knife to Grace and Alison, his eyebrow raised.

"If you think we're going to do what you want just because you have your damn knife then you're _very_ sadly mistaken! It's two against one and you'll be the one going into the elevator," Grace told Kaden with a scowl, to which Kaden simply laughed.

"Alright then," he said, "let's see what you girls got. Last time I checked, you two are the ones with the poison coursing through your veins and I'm the one who has clean, clear, veins."

Alison looked over to Grace who continued to scowl. The only good about this sudden transition to a new challenge was that Alison could forget about Roy's death.

"Who will it be then? As far as I'm concerned I can push you both in there. But sadly, I need one of you for the final trap to act as a sacrifice for whatever crazy challenge Jigsaw has planned. Go ahead and decide amongst yourselves. I have all day," Kaden said with a glowing smile.

Grace stepped back to Alison and looked at her with a worried look on her face. "Alison, what should we do? Do you think we can get Kaden in there?" she whispered as Alison simply stared at the ground.

"There's no way we can get him in there. If Roy was here…he'd take charge," Alison said with a shake of her head.

"Don't try anything funny. Remember, I have the kni~ife," he said in a singsong tone and then chuckled.

Alison folded her arms across her chest and leaned her head back. Was this really going to be the end of one of them? What could they do? Their only chance would be to try and take on Kaden, but chances are one of them would die anyways.

Roy's final words rang through her head. But how could she 'live her life' if she was going to die? Even if she made it to the next round, it would be because Grace died and Kaden would only threaten her again. There had to be another way…

"_But have any of you truly learned what I've been trying to teach you? There are only two games left, and the one who has fully learned this lesson will find that the final task is the easiest of them all."_

What was that lesson? What did Jigsaw want them to know?

"_There is a single antidote placed in this building; you all may fight amongst it, or look beyond deception—and find a different solution. Do not be blinded by what you think is reality."_

The first recording Jigsaw presented to them, he said there was a different solution, that by looking beyond deception she could make it through, and to not be blinded by what you think…is…

Alison's eyes widened and her head turned to the elevator. "He said not to be blinded by what I think reality is," Alison muttered as Grace looked at her with a confused face. "Jigsaw didn't say that…" she stopped and continued to stare at the elevator.

Suddenly, she took off towards it. Kaden was surprised by the immediate action that Alison had taken.

She went inside, careful not to push against the needles extended from the walls, and pressed a single button on the wall. Two gated, sliding, doors slammed together in front of Alison. "I'm sorry, Grace," she said as Grace responded with an odd smile, but before Alison could say anything else the elevator began to lower, very smoothly.

* * *

Grace and Kaden were soon unable to be seen through the gated doors, leaving Alison alone. She looked around at the spiked walls and could feel a few of them poking at her bare legs.

It was about twenty seconds later that the elevator finally stopped, but the gated doors moved aside and a regular door had been placed in front of the elevator. On the door were the words 'The Next Door' in white spray paint.

Alison grabbed the rusty knob and opened the door. The room had a wooden floor and walls, sunset light shined through cracks in the walls that made up for the lack of light bulbs in the room.

She walked ahead to a television set up in the middle of the room. It sat on a wooden table with three tapes set in front of it reading 'Isaac', 'Alison', and 'Roy'. A white piece of paper was taped to the television screen that read, 'The Final Game: Place The Cassette Into The VHR.'

Confused and surprised, Alison followed the instructions and placed the tape cassette that read 'Alison' into the VHR placed on top of the television and clicked the player button.

The television already on, static appeared first but then a man sitting in front of a desk cluttered with papers and mechanical pieces took its place. The man wore a black colored cloak with red lining the insides of the veil. He had a pale white face and a bald head with a small amount of gray hair growing on his head.

"Hello Alison, and congratulations are in order; you have won my game. You were able to see through the trepidation and move on from the loss of your former lover. I can imagine you're not quite as mad as me as when the game first started," Jigsaw said with a small smile on his face as Alison's remained unchanged.

"But I know you have one question for me: where's the antidote? And I am going to tell you that you never needed it; _you_ were not the one infected with the poison. For both Kaden and Grace are not who you thought they were. You do not know the _full_ truth," he explained.

* * *

"Well," Kaden said with a chuckle, "looks like your life has been spared."

Grace turned around from the elevator and walked toward Kaden with a smile on her face.

"Back up unless you want your time to be cut short," he threatened, the knife pointed at Grace.

The young woman shot her right hand forward and grabbed Kaden's wrist of the hand that held the knife. With strength that Kaden could not counter, she pushed his hand down to his side. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a syringe and quickly injected the fluid inside into Kaden's neck before he could even react.

"What are you doing?" Kaden shouted as he used his free hand to push Grace backwards, but she refused to let go of Kaden's wrist in fear that he'd try to make a stab for her.

Kaden pulled the empty syringe from his neck and looked forward at Grace, she appeared to be blurred and he stumbled backwards. "You—you…" he muttered as he fell to the ground, unconscious at the assailant looked on with a smile on her face.

* * *

_To be concluded…_


	9. Act I: Scene viii

Note: I greatly appreciate all the reviews I've been receiving lately. Also, I shall be doing another act of Trepidation. I may be taking a week or so break before starting a new chapter. So enjoy this final scene that ends Act I. My suggestion is to listen to the Saw theme during the course of the story to achieve its full effect.

* * *

Scene viii

* * *

_Kaden awakes in an almost completely dark room and quickly sits himself up. He takes a good look around the room to find the bodies of Isaac, Alison, Grace, and Roy, unconscious on the floor._

_The panic sets in as his head turns from right to left, his hands scramble against the cold, tiled floor in an attempt to find something, anything._

_He grasps a recorder with a single cassette inside; the worried Kaden wastes no time in clicking play. "Hello Kaden, I'd like to play a game," said the voice from the recorder as Kaden listens carefully. _

"_You find yourself in a very dark room with very little sense of hope, just like your soul. There are four bodies around you, and as opposed to your 'usual' method of doing things, you can help save them...save them from themselves by forcing them to play my games. Now, I am giving you two choices, two different ways to play this game. So listen closely. You will notice five glowing objects in front of you, each filled with a powerful drug that will immediately spread upon entering the bloodstream. You may either destroy all five of these objects and wait for the timer on the door to run out to start the game," Kaden looked up and found a timer on the top of what looked like a door; it was counting down from ten minutes._

"_Or…you can inject the drug into the bodies of everyone around, including yourself, then drag them into the next room and follow the set of instructions I have listed on the back of the recorder. Don't bother right now," Kaden flipped the recorder over and found a piece of paper taped to the back of the recorder, his eyes squinted to see what it said. "It's much too dark to read."_

"_If you choose to drag these four people to their own personal Hell, then they will not know what you truly are, just the lies that you decide to present to them. But if you decide to break the syringes and face your demons, I will tell them what you truly are—and your chances for winning my game may become in vain. Decide quickly, Kaden, for once my game begins the vent in the corner of the room will unleash a poisonous gas in the room. And remember, either path you choose, you shall become infected. Left or right, Kaden; make your choice."_

_Kaden made an attempt to look at the corners of the room as the recording ended. "What the hell is this?" he shouted as he kept the recorder in his hand._

_He walked toward the five syringes and looked at each carefully, the timer still counting down. Acting quickly, he injected each syringe in the four bodies and he simply the left the fifth one alone with a smirk on his face, "No way I'm getting infected with whatever toxin that sicko put in there."_

_Kaden dragged the bodies out, one-by-one. A long pole was in the middle of the room with a chain attached to it and five cuffs were visible, one cuff for each person. Kaden followed the instructions on the back of the recorder and hooked up each person to a different chain, making sure Roy was placed closest to the stove. He carefully tied a key to the back of the stove, the trap not active yet. Kaden followed the last step and tossed the recorder and instructions into the room he was just in and shut the door then attached himself to a chain and sat patiently until he saw Roy wake from his slumber._

"_Ugh," moaned Roy, "what is this?"_

"What the hell?" Kaden mumbled as he grabbed his neck. He took a look around the room he was in but with little success; the room was almost completely dark.

It didn't take very long for Kaden to recollect his thoughts. "Where are you, you bitch?" he shouted, hoping to draw out Grace, the same girl who put him into unconsciousness.

He attempted to get up but soon realized he had a cuff locked onto his neck and a chain that was attached to it. Kaden groaned and sat back down, he was able to keep moving but was in fear of setting of another trap. He grabbed his stomach in pain, like something was eating away at his insides…what else had that damned girl done to him?

Light flooded the room as a door opened. Kaden's head turned toward it.

* * *

"You do not know the _full_ truth," Jigsaw explained as Alison listened with intense curiosity.

If she had won the game, what was happening to Grace and Kaden upstairs?

"Grace is not a true player in this game. She is, in a way, an apprentice of mine. Listen closely to me, Alison; Grace was the one who brought Steven to me. She saw the state he was in, depressed, sad, and reverted back to his old self-abusive ways. She knew the only way to save him was through the methods of the 'Jigsaw Killer'. So she made an attempt to find me and when she did, I agreed to her plan and put Steven through a test. He failed, and she broke down. She wanted to put the people that were the causes of Steven's death through the same therapy he had gone through. Isaac supplied the drugs to Roy who refused to help Steven in his time of need due to Roy's drug addiction. You continuously bothered Steven and caused him to relive past pains. Then there's Kaden…"

* * *

"You!" Kaden shouted but quickly coughed up blood after his scream. "What—what did you do to me? You fucking whore!" he screamed again toward Grace who walked into the room with a smile on her face, a red box in her hands and a camera around her neck.

With her foot, Grace pushed the box to Kaden. "My camera never lies, Kaden," Grace said as she held the camera up to her face and took a picture of Kaden. A photograph slid out from the bottom of the camera. "I know what you did and I'm using every ounce of my being to refrain from killing you," she scowled as Kaden's eyes widened.

_Roy's foot slammed against the box, which were filled with the pictures of Steven about to cut himself, and sent it across the room, breaking it into further pieces as it hit the floor. "Who's taking all these fucking pictures?" Roy shouted._

"Personally, I hope you rot in hell," she said, flicking the lights on and walking out of the room, making sure to slam the door behind her.

The dimly lit room revealed a syringe on the other side of the room, but a field of broken glass stood in Kaden's way.

Kaden opened up the red box and looked at the pictures inside. Only several pictures were found, each were of Kaden in a different location of what looked like to be police covering around a murder scene. The last picture revealed a picture of Kaden from outside a window, white gloves in his hands that seemed to be sprayed with dried blood.

A single cassette was found inside the box but a recorder could be found right next to Kaden, a cassette inside of it. Opening up the recorder it could be seen that it was the same cassette that Kaden had first played while in this room. He switched the cassettes quickly and hit the 'play' button.

"Hello, again, Kaden," the recording said as he placed the recorder on the floor and clasped his hands over his face. How could he have failed?

"You have tricked and lied your way through life, just like you managed to do with the police. You are the worst scum of the world, and the least deserving person to have a life that I have ever seen. You are a serial killer. You were the cause of death for several individuals for your own sick pleasure. I do not personally enjoy the line of work that I do, but the difference between you and I is that _I_ help save lives and take away the useless space that the hopeless take up. You toss away good, innocent people just because you hold some sort of grudge. I know how your mind works, Kaden. Only looking out for yourself, so determined to keep yourself alive. You thought too deeply about what the game's rules were. I told you once the game began a poisonous gas would be released through the vents…"

_"Decide quickly, Kaden, for once my game begins the vent in the corner of the room will unleash a poisonous gas in the room. And remember, either path you choose, you shall become infected."_

"But the game had begun the second you clicked play on that recorder."

_He grasps a recorder with a single cassette inside; the worried Kaden wastes no time in clicking play. "Hello Kaden, I'd like to play a game."_

Kaden gave another cough as blood splattered into his hand before him. "You and the others were just breathing in that poison by the time that first recording had finished. Now you're wondering what was in those syringes I had you inject into the bodies around you. You were too busy worrying about yourself you didn't think about what I had told you…"

_"So listen closely. You will notice five glowing objects in front of you, each filled with a powerful **drug** that will immediately spread upon entering the bloodstream."_

"Tell me Kaden, what is the definition of a 'drug'? It is a remedy, a treatment, a medicine. That syringe I know you avoided injecting yourself with was not the poison. It was the antidote."

_A harsh cough came from Kaden's throat, drawing the attention of Roy. "What the hell…" Kaden said, looking down at his hand, a small splatter of blood was visible._

_"The poison," Roy said, looking up at Kaden's face, which was filled with worry and confusion. "What's wrong?" he asked._

"Perhaps you didn't listen as close as I thought you did when I was explaining the rules to yourself and the other four players."

_"**You** have spent **your** years living lies. Lies that have caused the ones **you** care about to suffer. But those who were suffering **you** have refused to care about. I am now giving **you** a second chance; there is a slow acting poison in **your** body. I'd say **you** have about one hour before the toxin starts to take effect. There is a single antidote placed in this building…"_

"I was not finished talking to you yet, Kaden. That information about the slow acting poison was not directed towards them; it was directed toward **you**," Kaden looked down at the blood in his trembling hand. He realized the danger he was now in.

* * *

"Kaden," Jigsaw explained through the television recording to Alison, "is a serial killer. He murdered Steven's close friend, Michael, as you may remember. Kaden refused to inject himself with the antidote at the beginning of the game, thinking it was a toxin of some sort. But you, and the others, were completely safe all along."

Alison stared down at the television set. "What?" she asked in disbelief. She had been fine the entire time? That whole rush, that struggle to find the antidote…it had been all for nothing?

"Kaden will be entering his last chance for survival in an hour or so. Grace should be just know putting him into unconsciousness. Luckily for you, you seemed to understand what the rules of the last game were."

_"Once the elevator has lowered the next door and final game will be revealed; and the antidote, along with your freedom, will be just beyond that door."_

"Tell me, Alison, do you know what the synonym for an antidote is? A solution, an answer. By completing this game, you have found your answer, the solution to your troubles. I have presented you with the antidote to move on and live your life."

* * *

"I did not lie to you, Kaden. I clearly stated '_either path you choose, you shall become infected_', and I was correct. If you had destroyed the syringes you would've been infected with the poisonous gas. But I knew you wouldn't inject yourself, so you became infected anyways," a chuckle came from the recorder.

"No! No!" Kaden screamed, "This isn't fair! This isn't fair!"

"I had even managed to give you a chance to give your life some purpose. I wanted you to kill the person who you thought was the least deserving of life. That person was you, but instead you had someone take your place. So now…I suppose you're wondering what I'm going to do to you. I'll tell you what I'm going to do, I'm going to make you play a game…"

* * *

"You are free to go, Alison. Do not forget the lessons you have learned, or else I'll see you again very soon," he warned Alison who glanced away from the television set. Jigsaw seemed to know he was staring right at her, she could hardly bare to make eye contact with the person she felt so much hate and gratitude for.

She walked past the set and towards a metallic door at the end of the hallway; a small nail was placed in the opening of the door so it wouldn't lock.

"Most people are so ungrateful for being alive, but not you, Alison," Jigsaw said, but Alison continued walking towards the door. The hallway she walked through filled with rays of the dim sunlight escaping through the cracks in the walls. "Not anymore."

* * *

"You see the many shards of broken glass before you. The syringe you refused to inject into yourself is sitting right on the wooden stool on the other end. The antidote just may save your life, but with the poison already inside you, I wouldn't place any bets. But hurry Kaden, for the cuff locked to your neck has a chain attached to a machine on the wall behind you," Kaden's hand turned toward the large, contraption behind him.

"It will reel the chain in, so act quickly before the chain is reeled in so much you can no longer reach the antidote. You will be left pinned to the wall, slowly dying from the poison within your body. But if you are to succeed, your life will be put into the hands of another human being like so many other lives have been put into yours. Prove to me that you are truly deserving of the life you have been given," Kaden stood up his eyes focused on the antidote across the room. "Live or die, Kaden; make your choice. Let the game begin."

"God damn it!" Kaden shouted; his fingertips worked their way into the cuff around his neck. Realizing how useless this was he moved towards the broken glass before him.

_Cuh-chink!_

The chain moved slowly across the floor and to the machine on the back wall.

"No! No!" Kaden's bare foot stepped onto the broken glass. Pieces inserted themselves into his skin as he let out a shout of pain.

The pieces crunched as he moved his other foot forward onto the glass. He removed the first foot he placed down, and some shards of glass were lodged into the ground and a thin line of blood trailed from the glass tips to Kaden's feet. "Fuck!" he screamed as he looked back at the chain; it was getting shorter by the second.

Kaden ran forward for a second, moving several feet before falling onto the glass before him. "Aaah!!" he shrieked, glass shards submerged themselves into his entire body.

He pushed his hands against the glass pieces on the ground, blood covering the shards before him as he coughed out another spray of blood.

Kaden tilted his head up and stared at the syringe sitting on the stool. The chain was no longer sliding against the floor; it was lifted up into the air, leaving Kaden with only a few feet of chain left. "Somebody help me!" he cried as he tried to lift his worn body off the floor.

His eyes were still set on the syringe, horrific realization hitting him.

He was only halfway to the syringe.

* * *

_End of Act I…_


	10. Act II: Scene i

Note: My apologizes if this took longer then some of you expected. I am, by no means, done with Trepidation. I simply took some time off to renew my creative writing skills. I hope all of my old readers (and new ones, of course) are still with me. And while I'm at it, it would be wise to check my profile page a bit more often. I'll be placing sketches of former and newer traps onto there. Anyways, enjoy.

* * *

Act II:  
Scene i

* * *

The man's head tilted up while his eyelids opened slowly. "H—h—hello?" he asked in a raspy voice.

Though his vision no longer blurred, he was still unable to see the confines of the room he was in. The room was almost completely dark. The man glanced down at a flashlight that stood up on its end, and it was turned on and brought a single, dim light to the eerily quiet room.

"What is this?" asked the man as he now looked at his own physical state. He was standing on a small wooden platform, just big enough for his feet to rest on. It stood several feet into the air, and right behind him was a large wooden crucifix. The man moved his vision to his hands and his cursing increased, for his wrists were pinned tightly to the wooden cross by two shimmering metal blades that were pressed against his skin. Any movement of his hands at all would cause the blade to cut into his wrists, and blood was already running down the sharpened blades.

Suddenly, he bit his lip. "Aaah! Jesus Christ!" he shouted in pain. Just now the man noticed the throbbing pain in his left hand. Glancing over, he also saw a tape recorder attached to his hand. A single screw had been drilled through a corner of the recorder and through his hand.

"What the hell—who the hell did this?" the frustrated man yelled as he banged his hand against the wooden crucifix behind him. He glanced down at his clothing; he appeared to be in a black and white suit, his usual style of clothing for his priestly duties.

After another minute, the pain steadily increased. The priest moved his thumb down to the 'play' button, but it seemed like something was holding his thumb back. He pushed hard with his finger and felt it jerk forward. A wire had been wrapped around his thumb, and now what sounded like small metallic _clanks_ were giving off all around him. What exactly was this wire attached to?

He resumed his previous task and clicked the 'play' button on the recorder. A few moments of silence were followed until a voice of great influence rang out. "Hello, David," the voice said. "Some of your fellow church participants choose to call you 'Father David', but I choose to call you 'Undeserving of the Life You Have Been Given.' Your community looks up to you, listens to your word and comes to you for forgiveness of the sins they have committed. Think of this room not as some dark place of torture, but a confessional booth; go ahead, tell me your sins, David," a chuckle came from the recorder as David scowled.

"You go to sketchy bars and drink to your heart's content. You're a borderline alcoholic and cheat on your wife on what seems like a monthly basis. That's adultery, David. Is it not?" David looked down at the flashlight, his eyes closed as the mechanical noises continued all around him. "Here's a chance to redeem yourself David. Those blades that cling to your wrists are razor-sharp, as are the spikes on the wall that will begin to move towards you by the time this tape is finished. I find your hands unfit to hold the Bible, so cut them off and you will be a free man. Live or die, _Father_, heaven or hell. Make your choice," the game began and the sound of grinding from in front of David echoed throughout the room.

His eyes scanned the room vigorously; he could see nothing but himself. That flashlight prevented him from seeing the object that would cause his death. Where was it? How long would it be until it got to him? What did it look like?

"Graah! No!" David cried out. He looked over to his hands and then shook his head and looked up at the darkness above. "Please God, save me. I'm sorry! I know I've sinned. I'm so sorry, forgive me! Don't let me die! Please don't make me do this!" he pleaded as tears ran down his face.

He waited a few moments, as if an actual angel was going to save him. David gritted his teeth and then pressed his hands against the blade, "Aaah! God damn it!"

It wasn't enough just to press. David realized this…he needed to _saw_.

His hands moved up and down, his wrists rubbed against the blade. "Aaah! Aaaah!!" David screamed. Blood shot up from his wrists and splattered as it hit the floor. The smooth blade was cutting clean through David's flesh, as a butcher cuts his meat.

David's screams continued as the blade began to saw the bone. It was a rough grinding sound, as if someone repeatedly rubbed a kitchen knife against a chalkboard. "Fuck you!" David shouted to whomever was listening, "Burn in hell!"

The sound of the large spiked wall was growing louder. David dared not to look up and pressed even harder against the blade. "Raaaah!" screamed the priest as the blade finished with the bone and emerged from the other side of his wrist, blood completely covering both blades.

David had been pushing forward with all of his might, the sudden freedom of his body came as a shock and he fell, right into the spiked wall.

His fall was stopped by hundreds of spikes, but his feet were still on the platform. "Aaah!!" David cried again. A spike submerged into his eye and blood suddenly exploded from his ruptured cornea. His face was now injected with a dozen spikes; he attempted to pull away but was unable to. He pressed what remained of his arms against the spiked wall, in hopes of pushing himself away, but his arms were now stuck like his head.

"No, no, no! No!!" he screamed as the wall pushed David onto the platform and pressed his body against the large crucifix.

"Aaaah!!!" David shrieked as the spikes entered every inch of his body. As if like a small firework, blood spewed from David's body while the wall fully crushed David against the wooden cross.

It was quiet for a few minutes. The only sound was the slow dripping of blood against the dirty, tiled floor.

Footsteps carefully made their way to the bloody crucifix. They stopped and a hand reached down to grab the flashlight. It was brought up off the ground, the light shining against the holder's figure. A smile took over Grace's face as she looked at the mass of crushed flesh that was once called David.

She moved forward and shined the light down on a bloody hand on the floor with a recorder was drilled into. With slight disgust, she picked it up and gave a sour look. Grace walked away from the cross and shut the flashlight off, bringing absolute darkness to the room, except for the small hole carved into the wall. A small, collected, beam of light was visible, dust gently floating past it.

* * *

"First it was Steven Lowry. Then came Isaac, Kaden, and our own officer, Roy. Now there's Father David missing. Not to mention this was all within the past two weeks!" said an officer as he threw down several pages of information from a missing persons report.

"Listen, Kevin," said a woman as she shook her head with a sigh. "There's your answer, Kaden. You know he was tried for third degree murder not more then three months ago. Maybe he's up to his old tricks. The Jigsaw killings are not in _this _town."

"Damn it, Paula!" screamed Kevin as he flung his hand to his side. "Isaac's been in jail twice for dealing drugs. Roy was almost sent to a therapist for his prescription drug addiction. And David has been known to spend a bit too long at the downtown bars. Then Kaden, exactly, he's a fucking killer! Aren't those the kinds of people that Jigsaw collect for his games?" he asked.

"What about Steven then?" asked officer Paula.

Kevin smiled and pulled out Steven's cell phone from his pocket, placing it on the table. It was opened and an older text message was on the sceen. "His ex-girlfriend, she was asking him if he was okay, if he was still _cutting himself_. This was a few weeks ago. Around the time Steven went missing. And there are quite a lot of messages from his former girlfriend. She appears a bit obsessed with him," Kevin said with raised eyebrows.

"So what then? She wasn't on the missing persons list. She wasn't apart of Jigsaw's game; none of them are!" she told Kevin who shook his head.

"Not necessarily everyone who play his games die. Maybe she was a lucky one; maybe she lived," officer Kevin said with a confident grin.

"Then why wouldn't she have come to us, Kevin? That would seem like the first most obvious thing to do after some psycho takes you in."

"Because of officers like you who wouldn't believe her," he said as Paula scoffed. "Find her and bring her here for questioning. If she knows anything she'll tell us."

"Kevin—" Paula sighed.

"Paula, trust me," he pleaded, "I'm sure Jigsaw doesn't just stay in one place. Every town has their sins. Just bring her in, please. I know I'm right about this."

"Fine," she said, giving in. "I'll get her in here in a few hours. This had better be worth our time, Kevin. I'm worried about your obsession with catching this guy," Paula explained. "Now, what's her name?"

"Alison Starles," Kevin told her, "but just wait; we're gonna catch that sick bastard. Just you wait. We'll be treated like heroes."

* * *

_To be continued…_


	11. Act II: Scene ii

Scene ii

* * *

Paula stood patiently outside of a one-way glass screen. A door opened behind her and she turned to see who was coming in.

"Is that her?" Kevin asked as he made his way into the quiet room.

Both officers looked through the glass screen and watched a brown-haired girl play with her hands that were gently placed on the table.

"She looks nervous," Kevin grinned, "perhaps she does have a secret to share."

"No shit she's nervous," snapped Paula. She kept her arms crossed as she looked over at Kevin. "This poor girl was taken from her home because of some crazy hunch you have," she said.

Kevin walked toward the door to the interrogation room. "Trust me, Paula. This hunch isn't crazy," he said. His confidence in his theory was massive. Kevin was willing to do anything to get the information out of Alison at this point.

"Hello, miss Starles. I'm detective Kevin," the man said with a smile as he silently entered the room and shut the door.

Alison placed her hands on her lap and looked up at Kevin. "You can just call me Alison," she said, uneasiness in her voice.

"Well, 'Alison', this can last a matter of minutes, or it can hours. Either way I will get out of you the information I desire," he explained with a stern tone. "You're familiar with the fact that your ex-boyfriend Steven has been gone for quite some time, correct?" Kevin asked. "Considering the amount of messages you send to Steven daily."

"I've smartened up. I gave up on Steven a couple of weeks ago. I'm no longer obsessed with him like I used to be. I learned to give up and live my life. So yeah, I've noticed he was missing; I just haven't bothered with him anymore," Alison explained.

"Do you know where he is, Alison?"

"Can't say that I do. Maybe he left town or something without telling anyone. Steven used to do those kinds of things," she suggested with a shrug.

Kevin sighed, "I can see what you're doing. You're avoiding the real answer. Just like you avoided coming to the police after Jigsaw released you from your game."

"Wait—Jigsaw? Like the Jigsaw murders?" Alison asked.

"Yes, the Jigsaw murders. You, Steven, Roy, Isaac and Kaden have all played his game. You were the only one lucky enough to survive it. Now you need to tell me where they're being hosted," Kevin demanded. His friendly demeanor vanished.

Alison looked at Kevin with look of astonishment. "You think I was in one of his games? Look, I—"

"Don't lie to me!" he shouted. "Someone doesn't just get over an obsession like that. I don't a _damn_ if Jigsaw helped your mental issue. He's killing more people; a man by the name of David went missing recently. If you don't tell me where this sick fuck is, when we do—and we _will_—I can lock you up. People will continue to die if you don't tell us where he is, Alison."

Kevin grabbed a chair near the table as Alison simply looked down at the floor. "God damn it!" he screamed. The officer grabbed the chair and threw it across the room. He placed his hands on the table and hunched over to look Alison in the face. "You tell me where the bastard is!"

"Damn it, Kevin," Paula said as she bit her lip.

Violent sobbing exploded from Alison; her hands moved to cover her face.

"Alison…" Kevin whispered, "where…is…Jigsaw?" His tone was calm and comfortable—afraid that another shouting session would cause her to break down.

"32 C-County Street," Alison said, her voice subdued by sobs.

"Thank you," Kevin said. The officer left Alison and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

Paula moved toward Kevin, ready to open her mouth and scold him. "32 County Street. I'll get the SWAT team and check it out," he said as Paula went speechless.

"You gotta be a little harsh sometimes," Kevin smiled as he looked back into the room with the weeping Alison. "Check up on her in a few minutes and tell her she's free to go home. I have to work to do," he trotted toward the door and left the room.

Kevin felt as if every second would make the difference.

* * *

"Ugh…" moaned a young woman as she awoke; she then pushed herself off the wooden floor.

There was something pressing against her neck, and the short-haired woman was unable to tell exactly what it was. It was tight, but not too tight.

She placed her hands near her throat and felt cold, metallic object. "Oh my God!" she shouted, unable to pry it from her neck.

The woman stood up, her bare feet feeling the chill of the floor. The long, blue, pajama pants she had on provided her no extra comfort.

Her hands continued to feel around the metal neck brace she wore. She gripped a thin wire that was attached to the back of her neck and began to tug down on it. Suddenly, a bulb on the ceiling gave off a very dim light; mechanical noises filled the room.

She looked around the room, she now realized the wire that was on her neck brace was attached to a large, steel cylinder at the top of the room; and placed near her was a large pile of glass shards. Some of them had dried blood stuck to them. Obviously Jigsaw liked to recycle.

Moving towards the heap of glass, the blonde-haired woman noticed a recorder placed at the bottom. She grabbed the recorder and pulled it out from the pile. "Aaah!" she cried, instantly dropping it.

The recorder was attached to a single, pale, hand; a screw connected the two objects together.

Upon landing the recorder cracked and almost broke; but luckily enough it had begun to play. "Hello Jade," said Jigsaw, "and welcome."

The mechanical noises continued as Jade listened to the recording. "You find yourself in a small, dirty room. More importantly, you find yourself alone. Alone, just like you left Roy those few weeks ago."

_"I thought you said you were my valiant officer," Jade said as she slammed the door behind her, leaving Roy alone in the hallway._

"You refused to help him with his drug addiction, and not once did you realize how big of a problem it was. You thought it would just go away, like nothing was wrong. I had to clean up the mistake you made, Jade. I'll say this now, for your own personal benefit: stop obsessing over Roy's disappearance. I took Roy in for my own special therapy. Unfortunately, he failed and is now somewhere in this building, dead," Jade let out a scream; her fear overcome by fury. "You need to forget about Roy and move on. Think of the brace around your neck like your wedding ring; by keeping that thought of marriage alive it will continue to choke you. Search through the mass of shards before you and attempt to find the key that will forever remove the thought of marriage from your head. But hurry, Jade, because in about thirty seconds the wire attached to the back of the brace will reel you up of the ground and leave you where your marriage with Roy has _always_ been: hanging by a thread."

The mechanical noises stopped and Jade fell to her knees in front of the shard pile. "God damn it, God damn it…" she muttered, completely unable to collect her thoughts.

Was this lunatic trying to ask her to forget about Roy, as if nothing happened between them? Like those months of marriage were just a dream? Jade thought for the past two weeks that Roy's disappearance was because of her, and now Jigsaw tells her that Roy is _dead_ inside of this very same building?

Without thinking, Jade quickly swept away several dozen shards. "Aaah!!" she screamed; Jade looked down at her hand and saw several small shards stuck inside of her hand, a small stream of blood dripping from each of them.

"Son of a bitch!" Jade cried out. She bit her lip as she looked down the shard pile; she knew what little time she had to complete her task.

The wire began to reel up slowly, pulling in the small amount of slack that it had. Jade used a single hand to push away large chunks of glass, many of the shards prodding into the back of her hand.

"Come on, come on!" it wasn't enough, Jade needed more force. She used both of her hand's fingertips to dig through the glass heap. The points of the shards cut into her fingers as she dug. They were small, but very painful; it felt like multiple paper cuts at once.

The glass shards were scattered across the floor as blood from Jade trickled from his hands and into the mound. "Ack!" she choked, grabbing the brace around her neck with one hand as she swept away more shards with the other. The wire began to pull the brace up, and it pushed hard against Jade's throat.

Her eyes caught a glimmer of a gold object in the shard pile. She grabbed it, along with several glass pieces, and quickly stood up. Jade coughed and took in deep breaths as she looked at the object in her hand. "W-what?" the young woman asked as she stared at the ring in her hand; it was her wedding ring from Roy.

She felt around the brace with her free hand for some sort of keyhole like Jigsaw told her there would be; that is, considering this ring was the actual key.

Jade gasped as she felt a donut-shaped hole at the very back of the brace. She took the wedding ring and pushed it hard into the hole until a sudden _snap_ occurred and the ring locked itself into the hole. The brace opened up at the front of Jade's neck and she quickly stumbled forward. She laughed and chuckled as she took in breaths of fresh air, but her attention was quickly drawn to the sound of a metallic object dropping behind her.

The widow turned around and saw a white, blank, piece of index paper on the floor, a key taped to the front of it. Jade bent down and looked at the words written on the paper. The sentence, quotation marks and all, read: "Live your life."

Jade flipped it over, making sure there wasn't any writing on the back. She ripped the key from the paper and stood up. Jade glanced over to a single door on the side of the room before looking back down at her hands, which were covered in broken shard pieces and thin streams of blood.

* * *

A large black truck stopped a small distance from an aged building. Four men dressed in blue and darker colored armor and clothing stepped out, loading with sub-machine guns and other artillery. Kevin hopped out from the driver's seat, dressed in the same manner but was simply equipped with a pistol.

"All right, we are gonna scope the place out; we're not doing anything major. We'll call for backup once we're sure that Jigsaw is really in the place. But _be careful_. This guy is dangerous and likely has traps set up all—" Kevin was interrupted by a female SWAT member.

"Sir," she said, nudging her head toward the iron door in front of her, "there's a note on this door."

Kevin lowered his eyebrows and walked quickly toward the door. The girl moved away as Kevin ripped the note off. The note was a blank piece of index paper that read: 'Hello Kevin, I want to play a game. Come in through this door alone. It is time you confront your obsession…once and for all.'

* * *

_To be continued…_


	12. Act II: Scene iii

Scene iii

* * *

Kevin held the note in his hand; his eyes reread it over and over again. Was this just a cruel prank to tease Kevin? Why would Jigsaw directly call him out like that?

"Detective," said the female SWAT member, "what should we do?"

He slipped the message into his pocket and looked back at his team. "One of you needs to get Paula, the other two stay here. I have to go in there," Kevin explained.

"Sir, are you crazy?" said a male SWAT member, "I'm not letting you walk in there. It's clearly a trap."

"I have to follow his rules. I'm not being brave or courageous. But from what I've heard, if you don't follow Jigsaw's rules, you die," Kevin told them in his stern, officer voice.

"Yeah?" said the female. "Well from what _I've_ heard, everyone ends up dying anyways."

"Well, better me than anyone else who goes in," said Kevin with a grin.

He walked toward the metallic door and opened it with little struggle. The three SWAT members watched Kevin walk in, looking at one another and mentally debating whether or not to follow him.

_Slam!_

Suddenly, the door forcefully shut. Kevin had just managed to step inside. Anyone else that followed him would've been crushed by the strength of the metal door.

Kevin pulled the pistol from his holster and turned toward the metal door. Anxiety was started to kick in; the room was relatively dark, and the only light was from the many cracks and holes in the walls that allowed the sunset light to come through.

The detective grabbed another note from the door and pulled it off. The new note read: 'Hurry Detective. Once the door shuts you have thirty seconds to get on the elevator; if you fail, you will be stuck here forever. I _will_ ensure this.'

Slipping it into his pocket, Kevin ran down the corridor and toward the elevator. A television set with a VHR player at the top was several yards in front of the elevator. Kevin stopped for a moment to look at it; directly underneath the television were two VHR tapes that had a name written across each. One read 'Isaac', and the other read 'Roy.' Inside of the VHR, another tape could be seen, that one read 'Alison'.

"I knew it," Kevin quickly muttered as he ran into the elevator. A set of buttons could be found, all of them had been removed except for one: a button that had the number '2' on it.

Kevin wasted no time in pressing it, and the elevator soon began to rise. All the while it made odd, creaking, noises. The detective grabbed the railing with one hand and held his gun tight with the other. It wasn't long before the elevator stopped, but the doors did not open.

* * *

Jade walked toward the door on the other side of the room. She looked down at her hands; very tiny shards were stuck in them. Several attempts were made to remove them with the tips of her fingernails, but each time it just ended in another cry of pain.

She inserted the key into the metallic door, and after several _clanks_ the door opened up. Jade walked into the fairly dark room, fluorescent tubes dimly lit it. Her pace was slow as she saw a metal bed-like object in the middle of the room.

A black man was laying on it, completely nude with the exception of his boxers. Cuffs attached to his wrists and ankles, which held him firmly in place. "P-p-please…h-help me," he struggled to say.

"Oh my God," Jade gasped as she came closer to the man. He had bandages wrapped around his chest and arms. IVs were injected into his forearms, an oxygen mask was placed over his nose, and a firm brace was wrapped around his damaged neck. "What happened to you?" she asked.

The man, too in pain to speak, simply looked over at a chain that hung from the dark ceiling. A tape recorder was attached to the bottom of the chain where a handle was placed. This chain was meant to be pulled. "D-don't…pull the handle. Please."

"Okay, don't worry! I won't!" she said as she bit her lip. This poor man's state quickly distracted her from her bleeding hands.

Jade grabbed the chain and pulled off the tape recorder which also had a photo glued to the back of it. There were two men on this photo: her 'husband' Roy…and the man that was lying in the room with Jade. The man was giving Roy a bag filled with some sort of substance. Jade removed the photo and looked at the back of it, the words, 'Roy and Isaac' had been written.

"Are those—drugs?" she asked in a whisper as she clicked the button on the tape recorder. She looked at Isaac with confusion. Had this been the man who had supplied Roy with drugs all those months?

"Hello, again, Isaac," came Jigsaw's voice from the recorder. "If you are listening to this then that means your life is in the hands of Jade. Do you know who she is, Isaac? She's Roy's wife…the same Roy who you supplied drugs to and furthered his addiction."

Isaac closed his eyes as Jade's widened. "You're the one who did this to Roy?" she shouted as the recording continued.

"Your condition is _very_ poor, Isaac; you should consider yourself lucky that you managed to survive my quadruple scythe trap. You don't have very much longer in this world. But if you manage to convince Jade to save your life than I shall give you your freedom. I hope you see the irony in this, Isaac. For once you depended on drugs to survive financially, now you depend on the drugs in your IV bags to, literally, survive. Without drugs your whole world would fall apart…you would be _crushed_," a chuckle came from Jigsaw.

"Jade, you need another key to enter the next room. There are two keys around you right now. There is one key at the edge of the room, where another heap of glass shards await you. Or, kill Isaac and exchange his life for the _other_ key to the next room. Can you get over your obsession over Roy and forgive Isaac? Or will the fact that he supplied the majority of drugs to Roy take over your emotions? This is completely up to you, Jade. I promise you there is no trickery in my words. Will Isaac die in this room or shall he recover from his injuries? It's up to you, Jade. Let the game begin."

Jade shook her head and let the recorder drop to the floor. "You!" Jade shouted as she flung the photo aside. "You...bastard!" she no longer cared that this man may be lying on his deathbed.

"I am…" he took in a deep breath, "…s-sorry."

"You're sorry?" Jade said with a laugh, "I'm afraid sorry doesn't quiet cut it. My husband is _dead_ now because of you! If it wasn't for that fucking addiction he wouldn't of been killed by this fucking psycho!"

"D-d-dead? H-he died…?" Isaac asked in a slow manner. His face remained emotionless, but he was surprised by what he had heard.

"Yeah; apparently he's dead. I hope you feel pretty damned guilty about it. You're a scumbag. You're probably the cause of addiction for many other people too," she said with a scowl as she walked over to the chain, "so for the benefit of them and for Roy's death. I think I'm gonna kill you."

"N-no…please," he begged with tears in his eyes.

"I hope you go to Hell," Jade shook her head and grabbed the chain, remembering that Isaac asked her not to pull the chain.

Her hand tugged down on the chain and a sudden _clank_ occurred. A large, iron, weight dropped down from the ceiling and landed on Isaac's stomach.

"Aaaah!" he managed to shout; blood shot from his mouth as he curled his fingers in pain. Isaac coughed and choked as blood trickled down the side of his face. "Please…" Isaac whispered softly as he coughed up another splatter of blood.

_Whiiiiiir—clank!_

Another metallic weight dropped from the heavens and slammed against Isaac's chest. The cracking of bones could be heard as blood now emerged from his sides; another eruption of blood came from his mouth as he tilted his head back, eyes opened wide. Isaac couldn't even scream anymore as his lungs began to fill with blood and his heart was pierced with a broken bone.

Jade held the chain still as she watched Isaac's painful death. She was no longer angry, but scared and full of regret for her sudden action. "I'm sorry," Jade said to Isaac, who managed to tilt his head to her with his last bit of strength.

_Clank!_

One last weight fell from the ceiling and crushed Isaac's head. The back of his head ripped open, blood and brain spewed from it while his eyes popped and blood shot in Jade's direction from the force of the falling weight. Isaac's skull was broken under the powerful weight.

Jade moved away from the chain and her back hit the wall. "Aaaah!" she screamed in horror as she gripped her own arms. She continued to scream as she looked at Isaac's crushed body and her own feet, wet with the blood of the drug dealer.

* * *

The three SWAT members waited outside of the metal door as it slammed shut. One of them ran to it and attempted to open it. "Damn it," he said, walking away from the locked door.

"I'll go get Paula, then," said the female member; the other two agreed with her decision. "Try to see if there's another way to get in. Whether it's a trap or not, we can't leave Kevin in there by himself," she suggested.

"All right. We'll go look around, but be quick," said one of them as they walked toward the other side of the building in the hopes that they would find another door.

The female member jogged over to the SWAT truck and quickly got into the driver's side. A sigh came from her as she removed her helmet. "Damn thing is such a pain," said Grace, letting her long, blond hair wave behind her head.

* * *

_To be continued…_


	13. Act II: Scene iv

Scene iv

* * *

The elevator was completely still and the '2nd' button on the panel continued to shine red. Kevin held the rail behind him nervously. It had been nearly a minute and the doors had not yet opened.

"Hey!" the detective shouted. "What's going on?"

He let go of the railing and searched around the elevator. There were no recorders or notes to be found.

"Damn it," Kevin muttered as he pressed the second floor button on the panel several times.

The elevator shook up and down for a second and Kevin instinctively grabbed the railing. The doors to the elevator slid open and a crackling sound emerged from the speaker attached to a top corner in the elevator.

"Hello Kevin," came Jigsaw's voice from the speaker. "How does it feel knowing that the man you've been wanting to put in jail now has _you_ captured?" he chuckled at his joke.

Kevin gave not a scowl or a curse to Jigsaw's remark. He simply stared up at the speaker and listened to the man's words.

"Listen carefully Kevin, I'm going to tell you how to win your _freedom_. The doors in the elevator have opened and there is a latter leading up to the next floor. However, take a look at the latter steps…" Jigsaw urged as Kevin walked up to the opened doors.

Looking up, there was another floor above him that he could easily get to by climbing the latter. But upon closer inspection of the steps, they were covered with small spikes and barbs.

"…you will see that this course is not exactly the most desirable," he said as Kevin walked away from the opened elevator doors. "In an hour the elevator will rise up to the next floor all by itself; or you could climb up the steps and get to the next floor faster. Why would you risk bodily harm to get to finish my game faster, you may ask? Because I am in this building with you, Kevin." Immediately Kevin's eyes shot back to the speaker. He could feel adrenaline rushing through his veins.

"But I won't be in an hour. So you may wait here until you are safely placed on the second floor…or follow your obsessive desires to capture me and climb the ladder. I guarantee you will meet up with me if you choose the _latter_," Jigsaw chuckled at his pun. "Make your choice Kevin—but it's a safe bet I'll see you on the other side."

He grabbed a handful of his light brown hair and moved toward the opened doors. "Shit, shit, shit," Kevin muttered as he placed his pistol into his back pocket.

Was it really worth the pain to go after Jigsaw…?

Kevin took off his thin padding and his vest. He tore off the sleeves and wrapped them around his hands like gloves. He put his boot down on a step; the spikes could not be felt through the thickness of his boots.

…Of course it was.

The detective grabbed a bar with one hand and reached up with his other hand to grab another step. He gave a slight grunt. The spikes could just barely be felt underneath the protection of the vest sleeves.

Suddenly, the sound of cloth ripping could be heard. Kevin looked down at his hand and saw that the spikes had ripped a large hole in his custom-made gloves. "Damn it," Kevin said as he grabbed the next bar with unprotected hand.

"Aaah!" he screamed in pain as he climbed up a few more steps and removed his other hand from the bar. The sound of cloth ripping occurred once again.

He groaned as he felt the sharp spikes dig into his hand. "Aaah!" Kevin cried out in pain as he removed his hand from the bar. A line of crimson blood trailed from his hand to the spikes as small patches of skin pulled away from his palm.

"Son of a bitch!" he shouted, reaching up to grab the next barbed step. The sharp points irritated Kevin's bloody hand. They made small cuts and peeled away skin as he climbed his way up to the next floor.

Kevin groaned again as the spikes tore away the skin and was now poking at his flesh. Streams of blood ran down the detective's arms as he looked down at the bars below him. Every other step had blotches of blood attached to it.

His breathing increased as he managed to place his arm into the open doorway of the second floor. "Aaaah!" Kevin screamed, ripping his other hand away from the bar as dozens of drops of blood fell onto the elevator below. "Come on!!" he screamed again as he pulled himself up to the second floor. His pants were ripping from the sharp barbs. Soon blood was spilling from his legs as he fully arrived to the second floor.

The detective lay on the floor for a few moments. He groaned in pain as he slowly pushed himself up onto his knees. "You bastard," Kevin whispered as he shook his head. "I'm gonna get you, you bastard!"

He took off what was left off his vest and tore of large parts of it. "Err!" Kevin closed his eyes and moaned from the pain of ripping his vest with his wounded hands.

With the two vest pieces in hand, Kevin wrapped one around each of his palms. He stood up from the wooden floor and walked towards the simple door in front of him. "If he thinks this is going to slow me down…" he chuckled as he shook his head.

* * *

"No! No!" Jade continued to scream; she refused to look at Isaac's mangled corpse.

She stayed like this for a minute. The slow dripping of blood from Isaac's mashed head could clearly be heard. "I'm sorry," Jade muttered as she banged her head against the tiled wall. "I'm so sorry."

Her eyes dared to move to the dead Isaac when a glimmer of light caught her attention. On the top of one of the weights was a key. It was right on the edge and ready to fall off.

The widow stood up and moved over to the three bloody weights. She cringed as her eyes glanced to the flesh hanging off of the sides of Isaac's 'death bed'. Jade quickly swiped the key off of the top of the weight and moved away from the horrific scene.

"I'm sorry God…please forgive me," she prayed as she walked to the wooden door at the end of the room. She inserted the key unlocked it.

Jade pushed the door open and walked into the room. It was dimly lit and her eyes needed no adjustment.

A man stood against the wall, a metallic cuff gripped his neck and kept him pinned to the wall. His gray eyes lit up as he saw Jade enter the room. "J-Jade?" he whispered; his thin wrinkles moved in his cheeks as he spoke softly.

"Harold?" she said with disbelief. "Is that you?"

Jade came closer to man but her foot hit a recorder. She stopped and looked down at it. Bending over to pick up, a note could be found on the back of the recorder.

The faint light granted Jade the ability to see the note. It read, 'Harold—Roy's harsh, unloving father.'

* * *

Kevin opened the door and made his way into the next room. He squinted, for the fluorescent lights on the ceiling were abnormally bright. When his eyes had fully adjusted to the light, Kevin realized he could see every dirty detail of the room.

A woman was pinned against the wall, a metal cuff on each wrist, ankle, and her neck. She looked up at Kevin who entered the room. "Help me!" she screamed.

The detective was startled by her sudden action. "Hold on; I'll help you. Don't worry," he assured her as she moved toward her.

He looked down and a recorder with a note strapped to the back of it. Kevin bent over and picked up the recorder, looking at the note first.

The note read, 'Michael's mother—the same Michael who was killed one night and the only suspect was Kaden Jester, a man who had been suspected several times before but the evidence could never be found. His mother has been searching for her son's supposed murderer ever since. Her obsession is quite similar to yours.'

* * *

The SWAT truck came to a slow stop in front of the police station. Grace looked into the windows and found that most of the lights had been shut off.

She sighed as she reached over to grab her SWAT helmet placed onto the seat next to her. Grace gazed into the glassy material that covered the front of the helmet.

"_Two more, John," Grace said as she placed two sheets of paper on a desk. "David and Harold."_

_The man known as Jigsaw sat behind the desk in a chair. He held a pencil in his hand as he worked on a sketch of some sort of device._

"_Hmm," he hummed as he glanced down at their pictures. "And what crimes have they been convicted of?"_

"_Well, David's a priest who has had his fair share of sins at bars and clubs. Harold is the father of that officer, Roy. Steven had told me about David and how Harold was neglectful and very inconsiderate of Roy's—"_

"_I'm beginning to worry…" John interrupted, "…about your obsession over killing every single person involved with Steven. You're running out of people to throw into traps so your getting people who were hardly involved in Steven's life. How much of an influence was Steven's step father and his priest in his life?"_

"_John!" Grace gasped as she shook her head. "I'm not obsessing at all! These are not good people and they deserve to be put through your games. And I'm not running of people to kill…I have something planned for the people in Steven's life who harmed him the most."_

"_You are thinking of my games as a way to murder those whom you detest…that is not what they are for. They are used as means of therapy to help them overcome their problems. Steven is gone, Grace; you're not doing yourself any good by hunting down every person who he was involved with in hopes that it will bring you satisfaction. I am starting to wonder if you truly understand the logic behind my work…our work. If you wish to continue in being my apprentice, then you better think a bit harder about what I offer to the people in my games," John looked at Grace with a stern glare as the girl quickly looked and to the floor._

"_Yes, John," Grace whispered. _Grace gave a scowl as she opened the door to the SWAT truck and stepped out. She placed the helmet over her head and re-assumed the role as the only female member of the SWAT team.

* * *

_To be continued…_


	14. Act II: Scene v

Scene v

* * *

Kevin held the note in his hand and continuously looked it over. The bright fluorescent lights had now become tolerable; Kevin could easily read the note.

"Help me," the woman pinned to the wall pled.

Before the detective could respond, mechanical whirring made its way from the walls to the location of the Michael's mother.

Kevin quickly pressed play on the recorder he held. He knew very well by the strange noises in the room that a trap of some sort was activating. If Kevin didn't receive information about the current situation soon, he may not make it through Jigsaw's next game.

"Hello Mary," came Jigsaw's voice from the recorder as Kevin looked up at the woman.

"Your son Michael died no more then a month ago. His death was to believed to be by the hands of the man you know as Kaden. This man weaseled his way out of imprisonment and made the court think that he was not the one responsible for Michael's murder. I could go on, but you probably know more on the matter than I do myself. You've been obsessed with obtaining proper evidence to jail Kaden for the past few weeks. Things got worse when Kaden disappeared a little over a week ago. You went crazy, Mary. You thought Kaden had run away and he would never receive punishment for his deeds. The state you were—and still are—in, is not a healthy one."

Mary let her head drop a bit as tears came to her eyes. "Please help me," she muttered.

"Both of your obsessions will now collide, Kevin. I am so close to you I could hear you _scream_," Kevin scowled and refrained from forming a fist; his bloody and wounded hands were in no shape to.

"The woman before you will die in one minute if you do not go up to the door before you, and lock it with the key attached to the recorder. However, if you do lock the door, it will not be unlocked until a little less than an hour passes. As you are well aware of, I will be gone from this building by that time. So make your choice, Kevin. Will Mary die for the sake of dozens of people that you seem to find 'innocent'? Will you come and stop me so that the worthless scum of this planet will continue to live and never learn their lesson? Or will you learn _yours_ and keep this woman alive?" Kevin grabbed the brown hair on his head as he listened to Mary's screams of help. "Make your choice, Kevin. Let the game begin."

Kevin ran to the door that led to the next room, recorder in his pocket. His hands banged against it as he realized it was made of metal. The detective pulled out his pistol and shot the door. The bullet dinged off the door harmlessly.

"Please—please help me!" Mary pled.

"Shut up!" Kevin responded. He held his head with one hand and pointed the gun at Mary with the other. "Just…shut up."

Suddenly, a curved blade emerged from the wall that Mary was pinned against. The blade pressed hard against Mary's wrist and cut downward across it as the blade submerged back into the wall. Blood shot from Mary's wrist as skin was ripped away from it. Blood-soaked flesh dangled from the side of her hand as she gave a violent shriek.

"God damn it, help me!" she demanded as Kevin simply stared.

Kevin put his pistol back into its sheath as he pulled the recorder out of his pocket and removed the key that was taped to the back.

A second curved blade appeared and cut across Mary's other wrist. The tip of the blade sunk into her skin and sliced through veins like a knife cuts meat. Streams of blood exploded from her severed veins and ran down her arm. Strips of chopped skin fell to the floor as Mary gave another shriek of pain. Blood oozed from her wrists and splattered as it hit the floor.

"Put the fucking key in! Put it in!" she cried in pain as Kevin walked up to the door. He held the key tightly in his hand as he moved to put it in the lock.

"Come on! Come on, damn it!" Mary continued to scream as Kevin stood at the door, struggling to make his decision.

"I-I can't…" Kevin said finally; he let the recorder drop to the ground and placed his hand against the door. "I'm sorry."

Two more blades shot out from the wall. Both of them wrapped around Mary's exposed ankles and cut deeply to the sides as they delved back into the wall. Like a potato peeler, skin was removed along with the cutting of the blades. Blood sprayed from her ankles for a moment before it violently flowed from the open wound.

"You bastard!!" she shrieked, sobbing directly afterwards as she shook her head violently. "I didn't do anything! I didn't do anything! I just want my son back! I just want my son!"

Kevin threw the key to the ground and opened the metal door. He dared not to look at Mary as he left the room, slamming the door behind him.

"Come back!" she yelled. "Come back and get me out of here! I don't deserve this!"

Mary looked to the floor and saw the key that Kevin left behind. "Please, please!" she shouted, as if the key was going to lock the door itself.

Another blade emerged from the wall and pressed against Mary's neck. It pressed hard and caused a thin stream of blood to run down her neck. "No, no, no!" she cried as the blade violently cut across her neck.

A shower of blood sprayed from her neck and fell down like a mist onto the floor below. Mary attempted to mutter something as the blade moved back into the wall. A river of blood moved down her neck as she let her head lay limp forward. A small puddle of blood formed underneath her as the liquid continued to drop from every limb of her deceased body.

* * *

Jade turned the recorder around, looking away from the note that was attached to the back of it. A key was taped on the front of the recorder and Jade quickly removed it.

"I think that's the key to this chain, Jade!" Harold said as he used both hands to tug on the cuff wrapped around his neck. "Quick; let me see it!"

The girl looked up at Harold. Her eyes were still red from crying over Isaac's violent death. "No, not yet," she said with a hard swallow.

"Jade, come on!" Roy's father shouted as let his hands fall to his side.

"I need to see what Jigsaw wants, first," she said as she let her thumb rub against the play button.

"To hell what he wants! Let me out of here!" Harold responded.

"Hello Harold," Jigsaw said as Jade pressed the play button. "Your son Roy is dead. How does that make you feel?" he asked as Harold looked on with confused eyes.

"Roy's—" Harold said as he shook his head slowly.

"Given the history of your affection to Roy, you probably don't feel anything at all. You were so distraught over the death of your wife, Lisa, that you stopped caring for your son. You became harsh to him and forced him into the profession of a police officer. Most importantly, you knew about his addiction to drugs, but you ignored it and figured the problem would work itself out. You claimed that if Roy wasn't strong enough to get rid of the addiction himself, he deserved whatever came to him, even death."

Jade looked to Harold who simply kept staring at the recorder. Jade knew how tough of a father Harold had been to Roy, but she didn't realize he was that cruel.

Jigsaw continued. "You could've given Roy the help he needed rather than completely ignore him. You didn't bother to help him; he was way over his head. Now you'll lose _yours_ if Jade decides to ignore you. Jade, if you decide to use the key to save Harold, you will not be able to use it to open the door to the next room. And if you choose this path, you will be able to fully meet with the person who is responsible for Roy's death. After all…that is your obsession, right? But I can guarantee you that if you save Harold you will gain your freedom in a few hours. What'll it be, Jade? Will you fight or follow your obsession? Make your choice—let the game begin."

"Jade, please!" Harold cried as he tugged in vain on the cuff clutching his neck.

"'Please' what?" Jade said with a scoff as she wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "I never liked you much anyways. You were never nice to Roy, even during family occasions. Now I found out you didn't bother to help him with his addiction even when you _knew_?"

"He wasn't gonna listen to me, Jade! You know Roy…he's too stubborn!" Harold attempted to reason with Jade. He held onto the cuff tightly, feeling as if the end was coming soon. He couldn't have that much time left.

Mechanical whirring started and Jade looked up to the ceiling. "Geez," she muttered, "it's just like Isaac again." She remembered the guilt she felt when he died. Why hadn't she felt this guilt before the drug dealer died? Jade was too infuriated at Isaac to care about his fate. Perhaps the only reason Jade _did_ feel guilty was by the manner of Isaac's death. This was a mind game—a game that Jigsaw played very well.

"Jade!" Harold screamed. "Don't leave me to die! I'm sorry! Have mercy on me!" he pleaded as he looked to Jade with tears in his eyes. "What would Roy want you to do?"

Jade held the key tightly; her hand shook as she let her other hand drop the recorder to the floor.

What would Roy want? Would he want revenge on his father for his inaction? No…Roy would want Jade to forgive him.

The widow moved forward with the key shaking in her hand. "I don't think you deserve it…but—"

Jade was interrupted by a loud clank, then a portion of the wall behind Harold moved. A large block pushed out against the back of Harold's head. "Aaah!!" he screamed as he squeezed his eyes tightly.

_Snap!_

Harold's head was pushed forward and off of his neck. Blood splattered into the air and against the block as Harold's head dangled by several strips of skin. The metal cuff released itself and Harold's body fell to the floor. A pool of blood formed between the gap of space in Harold's head and neck.

Jade stepped back and screamed as blood splattered against her clothes. "Oh my God!" she cried as she let the key drop to the floor and she covered her mouth. Her eyes were wide as she stared down at the body of her late husband's father.

* * *

_To be continued…_


	15. Act II: Scene vi

Scene vi

* * *

Paula sat in her office chair; she held a pen between two fingers and twisted it continuously. "They should've been back by now," she said to herself as she looked out a window.

Alison had left no more then twenty minutes ago. Her state was still unstable and she was still shaken from Kevin's yelling. Paula was familiar with Kevin's 'bad cop' attitude. But the display of violence he had given off was unlike anything she had ever seen from him. Paula could only hope that Kevin would catch Jigsaw. Not to apprehend a villain, but so Kevin would return to a healthy mental state.

With the time they've been taking in the building…anything could've happened. Paula could only pray that they were safe.

_Knock-knock_

A door to the office opened slowly. Paula turned her head to see the female SWAT member coming into the room. "Officer Paula?" she asked as she stepped into the room.

"Jesus," Paula said with a sigh, dropping her pen. She knew that something was wrong. Paula stood up from her chair and walked toward the female. "All right, what's happened?" Paula asked.

"It's the detective," the SWAT member said. "Jigsaw tricked him inside the house and we can't find a way through. Jigsaw has Kevin in a game."

"Damn it, Kevin," Paula scowled as she folded her arms across her chest. Her fear had become a reality. Jigsaw must've known…he must've known about Kevin's obsession. That's the only reason why Kevin would be in that game. "Jigsaw's clever, a genius. He's accounting for every possibly situation. Don't call anyone else; don't let any other officers know about what's going on. Chances are that Jigsaw wants this. We need to go and see if we can save Kevin ourselves. The fewer people that know the better."

Paula's plan was noble. She didn't want any other people to get hurt in this game. Paula would try to save Kevin, but even she knew that Kevin would ultimately have to save himself.

Paula walked out the door with the female SWAT member close behind. A smile came over the member as her plan was slowly coming together.

* * *

"No, no, no!"

Kevin shut his eyes tightly and covered his ears. He could hear the cries of Mary still. The guilt was already eating away at him from what he had done. The detective let an innocent woman die.

"It needed to be done. It _had_ to be done," Kevin said, attempting to comfort himself.

…But didn't it? Didn't it _have_ to be done? This was the only way Kevin was going to stop Jigsaw. If an innocent person was in the way then so be it. Kevin was an upholder of the law; he had to overlook the life of one for the lives of many. If one person had to die to save hundreds, then Mary should be grateful that she was the one to make that sacrifice.

Kevin looked up to the ceiling; a fluorescent tube was placed every few meters or so. The walls were coming unplastered and the long rug spread across the hallway was dusty and torn. "A fitting place to live for such a _filthy_ bastard," he said.

The detective stopped at a flight of stairs. He pulled out a pistol from his back pocket as he slowly made his way up them. Kevin was cautious and weary as stopped at the next floor, the third floor.

This same floor was where officer Roy met his death.

Kevin walked across a new hallway, just as dirty as the last. His hand pressed against a metal door connected to the wall. This door was placed in the middle of the hallway with a note attached to it.

Pulling the note from the door Kevin read it over quickly. 'It would be in your best interest to wait ten minutes for the other player to get here. If they should not show up, proceed.'

Kevin looked down the hallway again. Someone else was playing this game with him?

* * *

"Oh my God!" Jade screamed again as she backed away from Harold's head.

She covered her mouth as she turned away from his headless body. Jade felt overcome with nausea as she looked away from the pool of blood.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Jade whispered as she grabbed her own blonde hair. She was feeling the guilt again. She felt the pain of having killed someone…again. How could she have done such a thing _twice_?

_"Jade, if you decide to use the key to save Harold, you will not be able to use it to open the door to the next room. And if you choose this path, you will be able to fully meet with the person who is responsible for Roy's death."_

Jigsaw's words rang through her head like an echo. Jade hadn't saved Harold, meaning she could still meet with the person responsible for Roy's death. She could still have her revenge. Jade wouldn't let Harold's death go in vain.

Jade made her way past the bloody scene and used the key to unlock the door in front of her. She pulled it open and looked at the staircase before her; the key was now lodged into the keyhole. She wasted no time walking up the flight of stairs. All Jade wanted to do now was to meet face-to-face with her husband's killer. That's all she wanted…

Jade stopped climbing the stairs and fell to her knees. She kept one hand on the railing and the other on a step. "Roy…" she muttered as tears rolled down her face.

The death of Roy finally hit her. She had spent the past two weeks hopelessly searching for him. She didn't want to walk out on Roy like she did. Jade didn't realize how big of a problem Roy's addiction was so frustrated that he hadn't stopped that she couldn't handle it anymore. She felt guilty then too, she felt guilty when Roy had just disappeared. Jade thought it was her fault and she tried to find him.

"Roy, I'm sorry," she apologized. Jade pulled herself up and leaned against the wall. Her hand wiped tears from her eyes as she bit her lip.

Someone had killed the man she loved. The murderer was still in this building. Jade realized this and knew that she would never be in peace until that person was dead. She'd make him suffer for what he did to Roy. Jade would gladly let him die by the hands of Jigsaw's trap.

"I'm doing this for you," Jade said with tears in her eyes as she climbed the stairs again. She had found the motivation she needed to continue. She was willing to kill one last person for Roy. It may not be what Roy wanted, but it was the only thing that mattered to Jade in this world now. She wouldn't let it slip through her fingers.

She walked through a hallway on the third floor. The filth of it all went unnoticed by Jade who only had one thing on her mind. She turned a corner and came to a larger hallway. A man stood in front of a metallic door, his eyes instantly met with Jade's.

Jade continued down the hall, her eyes nevered parted from the man. She stopped before him and he handed her a note. "You must be the other player," Kevin said with an emotionless face. Was this girl someone he could trust? Or was this some other person he was to kill?

She stood quiet for a moment as she handed back the note. Jade looked at the door and sighed. "Sorry. I'm in no mood to become acquainted with anyone. I have to finish my game," Jade told him.

"Regardless, I'm Kevin," he said with a small smile. This was his 'good cop' attitude. He was a bit relieved to finally see a regular person again and someone he was supposed to let die. Kevin made a move to put his hand out for a shake but quickly put it down. It was still covered with dry blood from the barbed latter steps.

Jade looked at his hands and then to his face. "Jade," she said, feeling sorry for the man. She showed Kevin her own hands with an attempt at a smile; they were covered with tiny pieces of glass shards as well as dried blood.

Kevin chuckled as he put the note in his pocket. "We're getting close to the end. Let's finish this and get out of here together. I'm going to personally make sure Jigsaw is behind bars in the next hour," the detective told Jade.

With a simple nod, Jade watched as Kevin opened the door before them. The door swung open slowly as they entered the dark room. Kevin looked to the side of him and flicked on a light switch. The fluorescent light tubes turned on dimly as the metal door slowly closed. Kevin, not wanting to be locked out, stepped out of the way and let the door close.

Both Kevin and Jade were not examining the grotesque room, which held a few shards of glass along the floor. Rather, they were looking up at a shirtless man who was pinned to the wall by metallic cuffs several yards above the floor.

Kevin's foot knocked against a recorder on the floor. The man pinned to the wall tilted his head down and watched as Kevin picked it up.

The detective turned the recorder over and saw a picture of a man with a chain linked to a cuff around his neck. Kevin pulled the picture from the recorder and flipped it over. The words 'Kaden Jester' were written on the back.

_"My camera never lies, Kaden," Grace said as she held the camera up to her face and took a picture of Kaden; a photograph slid out from the bottom of the camera._

"Kaden…?" Kevin muttered as he looked up. Kaden looked down below with a smirk on his face.

"Oh look," Kaden said, coughing directly afterwards. "I get some company," his smirk remained as he looked down to the two players. He seemed thinner and weaker than the photo showed Kevin.

* * *

_"Damn it, someone help me!" Kaden screamed as he looked up to the syringe placed on a wooden stool. He lay on his stomach in a field of broken shards. The ones behind him were red with his blood._

_Kaden pushed himself off the ground, glass shards stuck to his hands as he coughed once more. Blood splattered against his hand from his mouth. The poison in his body would kill him if he didn't the antidote in the syringe soon._

_The killer looked behind himself and to the chain that was still slowly reeling in. Kaden knew that it wouldn't be long before the chain began to tug against his neck._

"_Aaah!" he screamed in pain as he attempted to run across the glass. His eyes closed tightly as Kaden pressed his teeth against each other. Shards submerged into his flesh as blood squirted from his feet._

"_Ack!" Kaden choked as the cuff around his neck pulled him. Kaden fell to his knees as he attempted to reach out to the stool. "Damn it!" he shouted as he began to take off his shirt. _

_The cuff around his neck pulled harder as Kaden ripped his shirt in half at the center. He grabbed a sleeve of his shirt and threw it to the top of the stool. "Yes…yes…" he said, partially exhausted._

_He pulled back hard on the sleeve and the syringe landed in front of him. Kaden let go of his shirt and grabbed the syringe, which had been cracked upon landing. "Please, please," he muttered as Kaden pushed against the ground with his feet to back himself up to prevent the chain from choking him. Kaden squinted in pain from the glass as he inserted the hypodermic into his arm, injecting the antidote into his veins. _

_Kaden coughed again as he let the syringe drop to the floor. Yellowish liquid remained in his hand from the cracks in the syringe. He rubbed it against his bloody hands but he soon began to choke._

_The cuff pulled against Kaden's neck as he fell to his back, the chain slowly dragged Kaden across the glass. "Ack—no! Fuck!" he swore as he attempted to get himself back up. Kaden pressed his feet against the glass as he pushed himself backwards, giving himself enough slack to stand up again._

"_Son of a bitch!" Kaden yelled, writhing in pain as he ran across the glass shards and stopped at the wall that held a device, which continuously reeled his chain in._

_Kaden gripped the device and let his head rest against it. The white-hot pain surged through his body as Kaden coughed up another glob of blood. Streams of blood ran from his mouth as the cuff began to pull against Kaden's neck again._

_Kaden turned around and let the back of his neck touch the device which now shut off. Kaden couldn't move, for the chain was hidden within the device._

_He stood there for an hour, his body aching from the events that had just passed. The antidote was barely working to save his body. He could feel the sickness within him still. Kaden was unsure if the antidote was simply prolonging his death or actually fighting off his disease._

_The metal door suddenly opened as Grace came into the room, a broom in her hand. _

"_Well, we have a winner," Grace said with a smirk as Kaden simply stared at her. "What's wrong? Too tired to swear at me again?"_

_Grace moved over to the glass shards and began to sweep them into a large pile as Kaden simply watched. "John believes in recycling," Grace said with a chuckle. "We'll be using these for another trap in a couple weeks or so."_

"_What…" Kaden muttered as Grace looked toward him. "…Is going to happen?"_

_Grace smiled as she let the broom fall to the floor. She walked up to Kaden and grabbed the black hair on his head tightly. He groaned as Grace kissed his cheek. "You will be the deciding factor in John's biggest game yet. If you live, it won't happen. But if you die…oh…if you die…" Grace chuckled as Kaden scowled._

"_I thought I…was sick," Kaden said, angrily._

_With a chuckle, Grace put her mouth to his ear. "I'm hoping you die," Grace whispered with a smile. " 'Cause if you die—there will be blood. Oh yes, there __will__ be blood."_

* * *

_To be continued…_


	16. Act II: Scene vii

Scene vii

* * *

"Kaden," Kevin said with a smirk as Jade looked over to him. "So I was right. Jigsaw _did_ put you in his game."

"Yeah, he did," he responded. "For a pretty good reason too. But you know all about that, don't you detective? Not because that you studied up on my case, but because of this sick obsession you have with—well, I think you can find out for yourself," Kaden used what little room he had in the cuffs that pinned him to the wall to point toward Kevin.

Kevin glanced down to the recorder he held in his hand. He wasted no time with clicking 'play'.

"Hello Kevin, and possibly Jade. Welcome to your next challenge," said Jigsaw from the recording as Kaden continued to chuckle.

"Jade, if you're here, look at the man before you." As he said this, Jade's eyes instantly obeyed. "This is Kaden, a serial killer who has murdered many people. During the course of my game, he held a young woman hostage and planned to kill her in order to move on with my game. However, Roy would not allow this and took his own life to save the woman's. He sacrificed his own life to save another's who was put at risk by Kaden's hostile intentions."

"It was you?" Jade screamed to Kaden who looked down, partially confused.

"There is a switch before you. If you decide to click it, Kaden will die a violent death...and a series of events will begin that will ultimately lead you to my chamber where I currently reside, alive and in the flesh. But if not, Kaden's game will end and his life shall be spared. The doors will not open for an hour. By then, I will most certainly be gone. I did not lie to you Kaden; I told you your reward for winning my game," Jigsaw said as Kaden smiled.

"_But if you are to succeed, your life will be put into the hands of another human being like so many other lives have been put into yours."_

"Kevin, will you let Kaden die to fuel your obsession—so you may finally meet with me? And Jade, have you learned to forgive those who have dealt Roy harm? Will you kill Kaden in hopes that it shall finally satisfy your obsession? Heed my warning, it will _not_. And Kaden, a little word of warning before you try anything convincing to safe your life. Roy was Jade's husband," Kaden looked at Jade for a moment who had not pulled her eyes away from her Roy's murderer.

"Let the game begin."

Kevin looked over to Jade as he dropped the recorder from his hand. "So, what should—"

"Let's kill him," Jade interrupted. A scowl appeared on her face as Kaden bit his lip.

Had Jade learned nothing from Isaac and Harold?

"Well, that was easy," Kevin said with a chuckle. "Today I get to see two criminals get what they deserve."

"Hold on!" Kaden shouted as Jade looked around the room for the switch.

Kevin quickly responded, "What?"

"You know how Jigsaw works by now, don't you?" the murderer began. "He's a genius and has his games planned out. Step-by-step. He probably knew both you and Jade would end up here. He was probably _counting_ on it. If you kill me, it might backfire and both of you will—"

"Shut up!" Jade shouted, tears in eyes as she interrupted Kaden this time. "Jigsaw promised me I'd be able to meet with the person who killed Roy. And that person…though I'd use the word monster…is _you_! You're a lowlife _bastard_! A fucking bastard!" Her eyes met with an iron box on the side of the wall; a lever was attached to it.

She walked over to the lever and gripped it tight. A phrase was written above the iron box that read 'live your life'. "You took him away from me! If it wasn't for you, he'd still be here!"

"Damn it!" Kaden shouted. "You're gonna lose!"

"I don't give a damn if I do! The only thing I want to see is you screaming in agony!" Jade responded. Kevin could only watched as she forcefully pulled down the lever and the mechanical whirring began.

"No! You bitch!" Kaden screamed; the drone of the trap being activated was painful to his ears. "You're going to _die_! That's it! It's game over for you, _bitch_! I wish I was there to see you—_aaah!!_" Kaden's taunts turned into a loud shriek.

There was not one, but five, saws emerging from behind Kaden.

A saw vertically cut through Kaden's right forearm. Blood spun along the teeth as it grinded loudly against Kaden's bone. Kaden's left forearm shared the same pain as his right. The saw splattered blood against the wall as it began forming a small puddle on the ground beneath him. Both of Kaden's thighs suffered equal fates to his arms. The saw blades smoothly cut through what fat remained on Kaden's legs. The blades flung blood as they quickly spun around. Within moments, the blades severed Kaden's bones and cut through a thin layer of skin on the other side of Kaden.

Kaden's thinner appearance wasn't because he had been sick from the disease still being fought off. It was because Jigsaw needed to make sure muscle or fat wouldn't get in the way of his trap.

"Aaaah!!" Kaden screamed once more. Blood didn't drip down from his limbs; it rained down to the ground below. Kaden would soon die within minutes from blood loss alone.

The saws continued to spin as the volume of Kaden's screams increased. Kevin and Jade watched on with horror as Kaden puked pure blood. It landed with a splash against the large puddle of red liquid.

Suddenly, the saw that seemed to cause Kaden so much pain appeared. "_Aaaah!!!_" he screamed violently as blood trailed from his mouth.

The skin on his stomach pulled out and split open.

First, a spray of blood emerged from Kaden's abdomen. Then, as the saw ripped his stomach open, green, bloody, stomach fluids fell from his stomach and splattered against the red floor. The saw blades soon stopped spinning; the middle blade was red and covered with the skin and organs from Kaden's intestines.

Kevin and Jade stood silently. They watched as a small stream of green liquid flowed from Kaden's wound like a lightly open faucet.

"I enjoyed every second of that," Jade said with a scowl as she turned to Kevin. "I don't know what Jigsaw was taking about. That definitely satisfied my revenge. Kaden deserved every second of that torture. Every damn second."

Before Kevin could reply, the lights suddenly flickered and shut off. Glow-in-the-dark paint had been smeared against the walls, specifically surrounding a door, and a wall near that door. Static then came from a speaker that had been placed at the top corner of the room.

"Hello, Kevin, Jade, and welcome," Jigsaw said from the speaker. "That trap wasted quite a bit of electricity. The door to the next room is still locked and now you are without light. The paint on the walls will not last forever. There is a platform on the floor near the wall that I have smeared with glowing paint. One of you needs to step on the platform and give a single pint of blood to the container below. Once that is complete, the door to where I reside shall open. Don't bother taking Kaden's blood, for the container will not open until the saw starts. Hurry though; I shall be leaving in about ten minutes. I know you've been wanting to meet me as much as I've been wanting to meet _you_, Kevin," a chuckle came from the recording as the speaker shut off.

Kevin glanced over to Jade who had her fists clenched tight. "Jade, you need to do this," Kevin said as she turned her head quickly toward him.

"Why me? I was the one who killed Kaden, I—"

"You're the one who caused this. One pint of blood won't kill you. I'm the only one who can apprehend Jigsaw and you know it. You know it can only be _me_. Didn't he say that Roy made a sacrifice? Well, you can do the same; sacrifice a bit of blood so that I can stop this psycho."

Kevin stared at Jade for a few moments before she moved past the bloody mess that could once be called Kaden. She stopped in front the wall; her feet stopped onto two slots on a platform that quickly shot metal bars up around her feet, preventing her from moving. Jade gasped, but calmed herself as she looked into a small, round, mirror that was attached to the wall. A saw blade was clearly visible on the wall and she gulped as she pushed a large red button above it. Without hesitation, the saw began spinning.

Jade let out a scream as the container below her opened up just slightly, enough room for her to pour blood into it. "Kevin, I can't do this! Just get Kaden's blood!"

The detective was already to the side of her. His eyes widened as he looked at how close the blade was to Jade's body. "I can't…I'll end up cutting myself."

"Well then help me give blood then!" Jade screamed.

"I can't injure myself before going after Jigsaw! Just do it Jade!" Kevin responded.

"Fuck you!" Jade put her right hand into the blade before her and let out a cry. She pulled her hand back for a second but quickly pushed it back in again.

"Aaah!!" she continued to scream as the blade delved deeper into the palm of her hand. Patches of skin ripped off from Jade's hand as she attempted to align the drops of blood to fall in perfectly into the container below.

"Come on, you're almost there!" Kevin said as Jade just continued to scream.

Jade pushed her hand harder against the blade as a surge of blood erupted from her hand and splattered against the wall. A thin stream of drop fell from her hand and into the container below. The door in front of Kevin clicked and the detective quickly turned his head toward it.

"Hey, help me!" Jade shouted as Kevin began to move to the door, his head turned toward her. "It won't let go!" Jade held her injured hand and attempted to move her feet from the slots that kept her locked in place.

_Ker-chink!_

The saw blade made a noise and it very gradually began to move toward Jade. The young girl screamed and moved her feet in an attempt to get them out of the slots. "_Help me!_" she screamed again.

"I'm sorry," Kevin said as he opened the now unlocked door before him. Jade continued to scream toward him, but the detective ignored her as he ran down the fluorescent-lighted hallway, pulling the pistol from his back pocket as he continued to hear Jade's cries.

* * *

"Hello Jade," came Jigsaw's voice from the speaker as it turned back on again.

Jade began to ark her body back in an attempt to move away from the blade as it came closer and closer to her stomach.

* * *

"I've got you...I've got you," Kevin said as he gripped the pistol tight. He didn't care about the injuries that were on his hands any longer.

As Kevin came close to turning the corner to what appeared to be an actual room, a familiar voice met his ears. It wasn't a recording; it was the sound of a fresh human voice.

"That's it detective," came Jigsaw's voice as Kevin ran even faster.

"Come and get me."

* * *

_To be concluded…_


	17. Act II: Scene viii

Note: Again, thank you all for the kind reviews I've been receiving these past few weeks. I love to look over and see how you feel about the characters. I can't help but chuckle at all the nasty comments Kevin gets. I will be doing an Act III to my stories considering the number of people I've had looking at them. I'll be starting the new act soon. So enjoy this final scene. And if you refused to do it last time, I'd strongly suggest listening to the Saw Theme Song.

* * *

Scene viii

* * *

The SWAT truck came to a screeching halt next to the large, old, building on Country Street. Paula stepped out from the driver's side and pulled a pistol from her back pocket. The female member emerged from the passenger's side, watching as Paula ran up to the door Kevin had entered through.

"Damn it!" she shouted. Paula slammed her hand against the door and banged against it with her shoulder. "How do we get in?"

"It locked when Kevin got in," the female member said as she neared Paula. It was clear that she was altering her voice a bit, but to Paula, who had no idea who was really under that SWAT helmet, she figured that was the member's real voice.

"Well, where are the others? Wasn't Kevin bringing more SWAT members with him?" Paula asked, her hand rubbing against the metallic door.

"They went to look for another way in," the member said, her head nodding to the side. "Perhaps they found something? We should find them."

The two walked around the building, every door, window, and entry was blocked in some form. They finally stopped at an open wooden door with a note still attached to it. It read, 'Hello Paula. If you're looking for Kevin, he's in here. But keep in mind, _girls only_.'

"What the hell is this?" Paula asked, ripping the note from the door and examining it again.

The disguised female opened the door gently with one hand and held her gun with the other. "Hey…detective. You might wanna look at this."

Paula let the note drop to the ground as she walked to the front of the open door. Blood was splattered heavily along the floor and walls. Two SWAT members lay dead not more than ten feet from the door.

"Oh, God," Paula muttered as she walked inside. She slowed as she came closer, looking up above her. A section of the ceiling was farther down than the rest, preventing Paula from seeing what was beyond that unless she went past it and then looked up.

Her foot pressed down and a creaking sound occurred. Paula glanced around the room, looking for the thing that had killed them. "Their heads," Paula said. "It looks like they were shot in the head by something. Jigsaw laid a trap right here I think."

Paula pressed down again on the floor and it creaked again. "Weight causes this thing to move," she stepped forward and the disguised SWAT member flinched. The floor creaked heavily as Paula walked along the booby-trapped section of the ground. Her eyes looked up to half a dozen guns pointing down to the floor. Wires were connected with the triggers and were pulling up ever so slightly. "They were too heavy," she said, looking down to the two dead members. "I don't weigh as much."

"Back up, I'm coming too," the SWAT member said as she began to move forward. With the weight of the two dead members on the floor, the guns were incapable of going off again, but neither of them wanted to take any chances.

Paula continued to step back until the creaking stopped. The SWAT member moved across the floor and stepped over the dead bodies.

"Kevin's in this building somewhere. We need to find him fast. I don't want anyone else killed today," Paula climbed the flight of stairs with the female SWAT member close behind. She held her gun tight in her hands as she followed Paula's every movement, a smile on her face as she did so.

* * *

It wasn't a recording. It was _his_ voice…Jigsaw's voice. Kevin could hardly hold his excitement as he neared the end of the hallway. He was about to put away one of the most dangerous criminals of this decade. He'd be a hero.

The hallway ended and, Kevin took a right turn into a doorless room. Kevin held his pistol tight and stopped running. He knew Jigsaw was capable of some sort of trick to kill him. The detective had to be weary.

Kevin stopped at the corner, just before the entryway of the room. He quickly moved inside with the pistol in both hands as he pointed it to a man at the other end of the room. This man sat behind a desk with several monitors placed on top of it. Wires and cords lay on one another as they stretched from the desk to the walls.

"Hands in the air!" Kevin shouted. "Take off your hood first," he demanded as the man slowly complied.

The man wore a black cloak with red lacing. With the hood removed it was clear to see he was at least in his fifties. His partially bald head and gray hair gave him a look of wisdom. He wore a small smile on his face as he then proceeded to put his hands into the air.

"Hello detective," Jigsaw said as Kevin came closer. "You here to arrest me now?"

"Yeah, that's right. I'm gonna lock you up for good. You won't put anyone else into these sick little games of yours," Kevin chuckled as held his pistol with only one hand.

"I wouldn't be so sure, detective. I have others who will continue my work, even when I'm gone," he explained as Kevin simply gazed with an emotionless expression on his face.

"Whatever. I have you, and that's all that matters right now. Get your ass outta that chair and let's go," Kevin said, sounding a bit disgusted.

Jigsaw put his hands down on to the desk and simply stared at Kevin for a moment. "You say I'm a villain. A criminal. You think I deserve to be put away. But what about you? Did you not just put three people to their deaths to come capture me? I test people who do not deserve life. And you helped me test them. You were the deciding factor in whether they lived or died. Mary's dead, Kaden died because of your inactions, and now Jade will suffer a slow death," Jigsaw placed one hand on the monitor in front of him. "Would you like to see?"

"No, you sick fuck. I don't want to see. Don't make me ask you again to get out of that damn chair!" Kevin shouted to Jigsaw who just looked at the detective.

"Look how far your obsession has dragged you. This isn't the first time either, is it? You've killed people before to imprison criminals. Some of those people didn't deserve death. People see you as the good guy, and myself as the villain. But which role do we really play? Where is the line _really_ placed between good and bad? The line is distorted, Kevin. Just like how your obsessions have distorted your life."

"Enough!" Kevin yelled as he grabbed Jigsaw by the forearm. "I've had enough of your God damn shit! I'm taking you in!"

"Well, let's go then," Jigsaw said with a chuckle as Kevin pulled him up from his seat. Jigsaw's eyes moved to the last monitor as he was pulled away to a wooden door at the end of the room. Detective Paula and the disguised SWAT member could be seen coming up the stairs.

* * *

"No! No!" Jade screamed as she clutched her bloody hand tight. The wound from placing her hand into the saw was still fresh and dripping. The drone of the saw spinning was partially drowned out by the recording of Jigsaw from the speaker.

"Hello Jade. You have failed," said Jigsaw as Jade bit her lip tight; the saw's teeth were now ripping apart her shirt.

"I'm sorry! Please let me go! I don't deserve this!" she plead. Jade could feel one of the teeth cutting her skin.

"You've ignored the rules of my game, Jade. How can you hope to win a game without following the rules?"

_"I'll say this now, for your own personal benefit, stop obsessing over Roy's disappearance."_

_"You need to forget about Roy and move on."_

"Aaaah!!" Jade screamed as the saw began to submerge into her flesh. Blood was scattered about in front of her as the saw continued to move slowly into her abdomen.

"You feel as though Isaac, Harold, and Kaden were the ones responsible for Roy's death. They each had their part to play, but Kaden was the one who least affected Roy's death."

Even as the saw tore away at her stomach's skin and blood ran down her waist and to the floor, Jade was able to hear and understand what Jigsaw was explaining to her.

"Kaden was not responsible for Roy's death. I promised you that you meet with Roy's killer…"

_"Jade, if you decide to use the key to save Harold, you will not be able to use it to open the door to the next room. And if you choose this path, you will be able to fully meet with the person who is responsible for Roy's death. After all…that is your obsession, right?"_

"…it was _you_, Jade. Look before you and you will see it to be true," Jigsaw told Jade who quickly looked in front of her. A small mirror with drops of blood splattered against it showed Jade's reflection, pain and tears in her eyes, mentally and physically hurt.

"_Aaaah!!_" she screamed again as she tilted her head back and bit her lip. The saw was turning dark red and a pool of blood surrounded the locks that kept Jade's ankles and feet in check. The organs in her body were cut upon, and stomach acid soon flowed from the large wound created by the saw. Bits and pieces of her stomach sack tore off and Jade let out a blood-curdling scream.

"You constantly yelled and screamed at Roy. What made you think that that would help him? You denied him the proper care that he needed and did nothing more than scold him."

_Jade quickly got off the bed and banged her hand against the wall. "Stop fucking lying to me!" she screamed, her arms flailing to her side. "The department called today and asked why you hadn't come to work yet! You won't answer your cell phone! Then I find your bag of damn drugs hidden in your drawer!"_

"Jade, you have killed Kaden. A man who had committed many murders, but you sent him to death for a murder he did not do."

"_And Jade, have you learned to forgive those who have dealt Roy harm? Will you kill Kaden in hopes that it shall finally satisfy your obsession? Heed my warning, it will __**not**__."_

"Roy killed himself as a sacrifice for the life of Alison. Even in his last thoughts all he could think about was how he let you down, how he was sorry for the pain he had caused you. You had pushed him so low that Roy thought his life meant nothing compared to life of the others in the room before him. You are the one responsible for Roy's death…"

Jade gave one last scream of pain and depression. Blood ran down her mouth and splattered against the puddle of blood by her feet. The locks that kept her in place undid themselves and the saw stopped spinning. Jade fell onto her back as the saw's teeth tore off one last strip of skin.

"…you refused to forgive yourself for killing Roy over the course of the game. Every time the opportunity came up to do so, you ignored it. Your obsession brought this upon yourself Jade," Jigsaw said as Jade coughed up another spatter of blood. She struggled hard to breath without choking. Her short, blonde, hair was now wet with her own blood.

"Game over."

* * *

Kevin opened the door and pressed the tip of his pistol to Jigsaw's back. "Let's go you, bastard," Kevin said as Jigsaw walked in front of him. The man had his hands placed behind his head as he slowly made his way to the stairs.

"Wait, what's that sound?" Kevin said as Jigsaw stopped, his feet on the edge of the steps.

He said nothing but Kevin banged his pistol into Jigsaw's side, causing him to flinch. "I said what is that?"

"Kevin?" said Paula as she turned the corner of the stairwell with the SWAT member right behind her.

"Paula?" Kevin looked down with a look of surprise in his eyes as Jigsaw chuckled.

"You ignored the rules of my game, Kevin. You ignored every offer to freedom I gave you," Jigsaw said as Paula continued to climb the stairs.

_"Listen carefully Kevin, I'm going to tell you how to win your freedom. The doors in the elevator have opened and there is a latter leading up to the next floor."_

_"In an hour the elevator will rise up to the next floor all by itself; or you could climb up the steps and get to the next floor faster."_

"_The woman before you will die in one minute if you do not go up to the door before you, and lock it with the key attached to the recorder._ _However, if you do lock the door, it will not be unlocked until an hour passes. As you are well aware of, __I will be gone from this building by that time__."_

"If you had overcome your obsession with capturing me, Kevin…" Jigsaw began.

"_Will you come and stop me so that the worthless scum of this planet will continue to live and never learn their lesson? Or will you learn __**yours**__ and keep this woman alive?"_

"_If you decide to click it, Kaden will die a violent death. And a series of events will begin that will ultimately lead you to my chamber where I currently reside alive and in the flesh. But if not, Kaden's game will end and his life shall be spared. The doors will not open for an hour. __By then, I will most certainly be gone__."_

"…Detective Paula would've come and taken me away anyways. But now Kaden, Mary, and Jade have to die because of your obsession."

"_Kevin, will you let Kaden die to fuel your obsession—so you may finally meet with me?"_

"Hey, shut up!" Paula said as she continued to climb the stairs. "Don't listen to his shit, Kevin. You were right. You caught him. That's all that matters."

Kevin removed the pistol from Jigsaw's back and looked to the ground. His heart raced faster as he closed his eyes tightly. Realization hit him. If he had just stayed in the elevator from the beginning, Jade would still be in front of that steel door with the note on it…

_Pulling the note from the door Kevin read it over quickly. 'It would be in your best interest to wait ten minutes or so for the other player to get here. If they should not show up, proceed.'_

…she would still be alive right now. Paula would've come into the room with Kaden, stopped Jade, and taken her to safety.

"I'm sorry," Kevin whispered as he clenched his fists tight.

"Anything you want to say before we put you away?" Paula said with a grin. She couldn't contain her excitement for being able to put away such a wanted criminal.

"I do," Jigsaw said, looking down at the disguised female SWAT member.

"Game over."

The disguised member bashed the very end of her gun into Paula's head. She was instantly knocked out as her body slammed against the wall and fell onto the stairs, unconscious.

Kevin, still wallowing in pity, had hardly any time to react as Jigsaw pulled a syringe from his cloak's pocket and injected the fluid into his neck. The detective quickly pushed away Jigsaw who banged into the wall behind him. But it was too late; Kevin quickly removed the syringe from his neck and the pistol in his hand shook as he aimed for Jigsaw. A shot was fired that grazed his cloak and submerged into the wall. Kevin fell to his knees and then fell over to his side.

The disguised female dropped her gun and continued to climb the stairs toward Jigsaw. She removed her helmet and revealed long, brown, hair. Her eyes met with Jigsaw's and she chuckled. "Grace is in the truck," Alison said as Jigsaw nodded with a smile.

* * *

_The disguised Grace stepped out from the SWAT truck and moved toward the police department in front of her. Unaware of Alison who quietly moved from behind a car and injected a syringe into her neck with one hand, while Alison's other arm wrapped around her waist._

"_Get—!" Grace began to scream but Alison covered her mouth with her free hand. Grace struggled to turn around and get free but her strength was soon lost as she fell unconscious in Alison's arms._

* * *

"And Jade?" Alison asked as Jigsaw looked at the door he had come through.

"Still alive, I presume," he said as he pulled a recorder from his cloak pocket. "Hurry."

"Thanks, John," Alison said as she took the recorder and ran into the room, down the hallway, and opened the door to the room where Kaden's blood lay in a pool on the floor and Jade lay barely alive in her own small pool of blood.

"H-help…" Jade struggled to say as Alison kneeled down next to her.

"I'm Alison," she said with an emotionless face. Jade's eyes widened; she knew who Alison was from Jigsaw's tapes.

Alison clicked the play button on the recorder and John's voice was not the one to emerge, this time.

"You were going to get your life back, Roy…why? Why couldn't you just have lived?" Alison said on the recording. She was sobbing heavily as Roy's breathing could be heard. Roy struggled to speak to Alison.

"T-tell…" Roy paused to breath. "…Jade I'm s-sorry."

Jade shed tears of her own as Alison's voice continued on the recording. "Don't die! We'll get you help, you'll be okay!"

Roy's final breath of air and blood could be heard as he spoke one last time.

"Live your life."

The recording shut off and Jade closed her eyes. "I forgive you," she whispered as Alison left the recorder by Jade's side.

Alison stood up and left the room as the dying Jade clutched the recorder and clicked the rewind button. She waited for the recorder to finish so she could hit play and hear Roy's voice again.

The recorder played the tape three more times before Jade died.

* * *

Nothing but darkness was present as Grace awoke in a room. She gasped as she sat up, her hands feeling around the cold floor.

"What the hell…what the hell?" Grace muttered as she soon felt a recorder and grasped it tight.

"No! No! What did I do?" she screamed as her thumb pressed down on the play button. Grace waited in extreme anticipation.

She was John's apprentice…why would he put her into a game?

"Hello Grace," John said. "Have you learned nothing from listening to me record the rules of the game to Jade and Kevin? Have you learned nothing from _their_ obsessions? Your obsession over killing those who caused Steven's death cannot go unpunished, I'm afraid."

_"I'm beginning to worry…about your obsession over killing every single person involved with Steven. You're running out of people to throw into traps so your getting people who were hardly involved in Steven's life."_

_"I am starting to wonder if you truly understand the logic behind my work…our work. If you wish to continue in being my apprentice then you better think a bit harder about what I offer to the people in my game."_

"Grace…I want to play a game."

"Damn it! No!" she screamed as the recording stopped. Grace let the recorder drop as she looked hopelessly around the dark room. She couldn't see a thing in the darkness.

"Let me out! I don't deserve this! I don't deserve to be here! John!" Grace yelled as she banged her fists against the floor like a child having a tantrum. She had spent so many weeks with John, devising, planning, scheming. But now he turned the tables and tricked Grace into a trap. A game. She would do what needed to be done to get out of here and go back to John and get her revenge for whatever pain and misery he was about to put her through.

"John!"

* * *

_End of Act II…_


	18. Act III: Scene i

Note: I apologize (once again, it seems) if this took longer then some of my readers would have liked. I needed time to set things up, plan, and relax a bit. But I am back, and I shall officially confirm that this story will go up to at least Act V. I am fully confident when I say that, for usually I get bored with my (full fledged and serious, anyways) stories and give up on them after a few chapters. But not this one; this story will finish the way I intend it to. Also, I'd advise everyone to stay alert around the 25th. The Saw VI poster should be coming out then, and the Saw VI trailer is due (supposedly) mid-July at comic-con.

* * *

Act III:  
Scene i

* * *

A woman lay in the middle of a room. It was not lit by anything except for the dim light of the setting sun that made its way through the cracks in the walls. The room was dirty and had a bronze tint to it. The air was stale from the decaying wood that made it up.

The girl suddenly came to life and she sat up straight, gasping for air. She did not scream or shout, but her hands felt a shackle around her neck. A chain connected it to the floor. The woman yanked hard on the chain in a futile attempt to remove it.

"Help!" she finally screamed as, simultaneously, a pain hit her in the left side of her abdomen.

Her eyes widened as she whimpered. She saw stitches along her stomach. They made what looked like the outer edge of a half circle. However, she was more focused on the small bump placed to the left of the stitches.

"Someone help me!" the woman cried again as she looked to her side. A tape recorder lay directly next to her.

She picked it up and examined it for a moment. The cassette inside read in small letters: 'Play Me'. She quickly followed instructions and clicked the play button.

A deep and foreboding voice came from the recorder. However, it was not Jigsaw's. This voice had a touch of femininity to it and differed slightly from the tone of Jigsaw. However, it did not lack power in any way.

"Hello Christine," came the warped voice of Alison. "You don't know me, but I know you. In fact…you might say I walked a mile in your shoes."

Christine clutched the recorder tight as she continued to examine her backdoor surgery stitches. The bottom of her shirt had been ripped off to allow the woman full view of what had been done to her.

"The other day you stayed up late partying with your friends, even when you knew you'd be called into work the next day. But this wasn't the first time had done this. You've skipped out on crucial assignments that led to the death of your fellow SWAT teammates. And now, two more have died because of your…'fun'."

Christine eyes switched to the recorder. Her face showed fear and confusion to Alison's statement.

"You were too drunk to come into work that day. In fact, you were too drunk to even bother to call. So your identity was stolen for that day and eventually I ended up in your outfit, leading your friends Detective Kevin and Paula into my trap. _You_ are the one responsible for what happened. You betrayed them once again. While they may be alive, they are currently in the agony of Jigsaw's trap…and your two SWAT teammates aren't so lucky. They lay dead and riddled with bullet wounds."

"No!" she screamed quickly. Her free hand clutched her head tightly as she tilted it back, gripping her black hair tightly.

"I want to play a game, Christine, quite similar to a game known as 'Operation'. Look down at the scalpel beside you," Alison said as Christine looked down to her other side. A scalpel rested neatly on the floor. "You will be, metaphorically of course, ripping out your own liver, the organ that is so contaminated with alcohol and guilt over the loss of your friends that it must be removed in order for you to continue living. Be quick, for if you do not rid yourself of your 'liver' in approximately 30 seconds, all of that remorse will _explode_. Live or die, Christine. Make your choice."

The recorder shut off and Christine quickly let it drop to the floor. "Oh my God!" she cried out. "What?"

She picked up the scalpel and pointed the tip to her stomach. "Please! Someone!" she cried again and she shook her head slowly as tears ran down her face. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Christine pled in vain like so many before her had.

Even through all her screaming and groaning, a ticking sound grew louder and louder. Christine quickly pinpointed its location.

It was the small bump next to her stitches.

She acted without hesitation this time. The scalpel blade submerged into her skin. Blood trickled down from the top of the blade and made two separate lines of blood that ran along her stomach.

"Aaaah!!" she screamed in pain as she clutched the scalpel handle with both hands.

Christine cut down slowly with the rusty, thin, edge. Skin ripped and blood squirted as she bit her lip tightly. "_Aaaaaah!!!_" she gave a horrific shriek as she began to curve the blade. She was so worried about the small bomb in her stomach that she didn't realize how deep the scalpel was going.

The tightly sewn stitches broke as blood began to soak Christine's pants.

She tossed the scalpel aside and gripped the cut wound with one hand and began to pull upward. "Come _on!!_" the woman cried as her other hand gripped her leg.

The ticking was as loud and rapid as ever. Her eyes looked down to the blood emerging from the wound as she squeezed her leg tightly. Her hand pulled up with great force. A large flap of skin was pulled back from Christine's stomach. The skin stretched and broke as the flap now dangled from the side of her abdomen. A large pool of blood gushed from the wound as Christine gave an awful cry from the horrible pain she was enduring.

Her cries were muffled from the explosion from the bomb. It quickly charred her skin and blew apart her torso. She fell back to the ground—completely lifeless.

* * *

"God damn it, John!" Grace screamed as the recorder she held in her hand shut off.

"Fuck you!" she threw the recorder across the room. It was pitch black, but she knew from the snapping sound that the recorder broke into pieces.

As it was thrown, a wire attached to it was pulled off and a small amount of light came into the room. It was a television set only a few yards from Grace that had suddenly turned on. Static could only be seen and heard, but it soon retreated and a rather disturbing puppet took the static's place.

"Hello, Grace. I want to play a game," the puppet seemed to say in the usual tone from the recordings. There was no feminine tone to Jigsaw's voice.

"I know you, bastard," Grace hissed as she bore her teeth.

"You want justice for Steven's death. You want all those who played a part in his increasing depression to suffer. This thirst for justice is equally as punishable as any one of the victims you've presented to me in hopes that they will die in a game. But how far will you search until an innocent person, whom you view as guilty, dies for this search for justice? Now I shall help you in this search. The darkness in this room represents how blind you are to the obsession quickly overtaking you. The chain attached to your leg is connected to a bear trap. The key, your 'justice', is inside this trap. But be careful…the slightest knock in the wrong part of the trap will set it off and leave you unable to set yourself free. I shall provide you with a small amount of light in your quest for justice as I always have. Hopefully you will see how…_painful_…this search can be," Jigsaw said with a chuckle as the recording ended. Only static remained that, as Jigsaw told Grace, provided a small amount of light to the room.

"Fuck you, John!" Grace screamed again as she tugged hard on the chain that connected the cuff attached to her foot to the bear trap that was stuck to the floor.

"Damn it, damn it! Shit!" she continued to swear as she inched closer to the bear trap.

Grace squinted as she looked down. A small bar rose from the center of the trap. The edges of the bear trap were razor sharp and tough. If this thing clamped down on her hand she'd need another person's help to get it off.

"All right. I'll play your game. I'll play your game you _fucker_!" she screamed as she slowly put her hand into the trap. She couldn't see what lay around the small bar, but she soon found out.

"Aaaah!" Grace cried out as she quickly bit her lip. Bits and pieces of broken glass went into her hand. "Ergh…" she murmured in pain as blood dripped down the shards.

She did it slowly though, letting her fingertips run along the spikes that stuck out from the bottom of the trap. "I'm gonna kill you, John. I swear I'm goinna to kill you," Grace muttered as her eyes jolted down to the trap.

Her hand quickly ripped out from the pile of glass with a key in between her bloody fingers. She didn't bother to pluck out the broken pieces. She quickly unlocked the cuff around her ankle and stood up, keeping the key in her hand.

Grace's eyes met with a shine from the front of the room. It was a door handle that had been placed to reflect the small amount of light the television was giving off.

The girl stopped walking and looked down at the television for a moment. Her hand still throbbed with pain.

"Aaaah!!" she shrieked angrily as she pushed the television set off its stand with her free hand and the side of her clutched right hand.

It fell to the ground and crashed. More broken glass grouped together on the floor as sparks continued to emerge from it.

"How's that for justice?" she said as she walked through the darkness to the door at the end of the room. She attempted to open it, however, it was locked. Grace felt around for the lock and quickly inserted the key into it and the lock came undone.

She turned the handle and opened the door. She wondered what further pain and torture Jigsaw had in store for her.

* * *

_To be continued…_


	19. Act III: Scene ii

Scene ii

* * *

"Hey!" shouted Kevin. He quickly snapped out from unconsciousness and realized the situation. The detective was strapped down firmly to a metal table. His hands and ankles were cuffed to the table, preventing him from moving.

"Hey! Someone! Get me out of here!" he continued to cry out as he struggled in vain to free his hands from the cuffs.

Kevin looked over to his hands. The room he was in was fairly dark. He wasn't able to see far, but he could tell that the cuts on his hands from the elevator trap had been fixed. There was the soft feel of wrapped cloth around his hands.

"Kevin…?" came a voice as movement occurred on the floor.

Paula slowly got up from the ground. Her hand rubbed the side of her head. She could feel a bump from where Alison had hit her with the gun.

"Paula! Thank God!" Kevin laughed. "Get these things off of me!"

She came to where Kevin lie and grabbed one of the cuffs. She attempted to rip it from Kevin's wrist, but to no avail. "It's stuck, Kevin," Paula said, still a bit drowsy from having just woken up.

"Well think of something before Jigsaw starts whatever sick plan he has in mind!" he yelled.

Paula's eyes met with a recorder on Kevin's stomach. "I think it's already started, Kevin," Paula told him as she gripped the recorder.

"Don't!" he warned her as he saw what was she was grabbing. "It'll activate the trap I'm in!"

"We can't get out of here until we finish his game! I thought you studied Jigsaw enough to realize that," Paula responded.

"I've had enough of his games for a while. At least let me rest before you touch anything!"

Paula removed the recorder from Kevin's stomach and a wire connected to it ripped off. Whirring noises echoed through the room and a large object began to move down from the ceiling. However, it was too dark to see what it was.

"What the _fuck_, Paula?!" Kevin shouted as he tried to break from the cuffs again. "Why the hell did you do that?"

"I-I didn't think that—" Paula was interrupted by Kevin's angry screams.

"Start the damn tape! Start the damn tape!" he shouted.

Paula quickly followed orders and pressed the 'play' button.

"Hello Kevin, Paula. And welcome," Jigsaw said as Kevin bit his lip. He closed his eyes to prevent him from seeing what was coming down toward him.

"Has Jade taught you a valuable lesson about obsession, Kevin? Has her death showed you the error of your ways? Or do you still want justice? Do you still want to see me rot in prison? Tonight, we shall find out." Paula placed the recorder on the ground and looked up. The object moving down was going at a slow pace, it seemed.

"And Paula…the divorce with your husband has left you cold and angry. You forcefully took custody of child and threatened to pull some strings and imprison him if he refused. Is this what you call _justice_, miss detective? Look above you. There are three steel pikes coming down onto Kevin. The only way to save him, Paula, is by placing your foot on the switch in the opening underneath the metal table before you. The shackles on Kevin's body will be released and he will be free to go. However, the second you pull your foot away from that switch, the spikes will come down, full speed. Either way you choose, once the spikes enter the slots on the table, the door to the next area will open."

Paula glanced down. She still could see hardly anything, but now it was noticeable that there was a slot where she could stick her foot into. The detective knew better, though. She knew it wouldn't be as easy as flipping a switch to save Kevin.

"Is Kevin deserving of life, Paula? How far will you go to make sure that he, and his twisted obsession for justice, live? Kevin…would you make the same sacrifices to make sure Paula lives?" Kevin's eyes moved up to Paula who stared right back down at him. "The answer to this question just might be your freedom. Live or die, make your choice."

"Do it, Paula! Get me out of here!" Kevin screamed instantly as the recording ended.

Paula silently stepped toward Kevin. She bit her lip and looked down at him. "Would you?"

"Would I what?!" he screamed, anxious to escape.

"Would you really do the same for me? I think I'm going to be feeling a lot of pain once I hit that switch," she said.

But the question was: what kind of pain would it be? Electrical? Spikes? Would it crush her foot?

"Of course I would! I wouldn't watch you die like that sick fuck! You know that!" Kevin shouted, attempting to persuade Paula to release him.

Paula looked up; she could clearly see three steel, sharpened spikes coming closer to Kevin. Each would hit a major artery and kill him. She quickly stuck her right foot into the slot underneath the table that Jigsaw spoke of, and pressed down. The spikes came to a halt and Paula let out a bloody scream.

It was then that she fully realized that Jigsaw had taken off her shoes.

"Aaaah!!" the detective screamed as tilted her body forward and grabbed the metal table before her.

_Cuh—clink!_

Kevin's shackles were undone and he quickly sat up from the table, moving his vision to Paula for a brief moment. Her eyes were watering and she pushed her teeth against each other. Pain was clearly present as she looked at Kevin and screamed once again.

"Move!!" she shrieked as Kevin obeyed, quickly throwing himself off the table and landing on the floor.

"Aaaaaah!!!" Paula cried as she pulled her foot from the slot and fell to the ground. The three pikes slammed into the metal table a ray of light shot into the room as the door unlocked and popped open a few inches.

"Paula!" Kevin cried as he got up, grunting a bit from landing on his side.

He moved over to Paula and got on his knees. "Are you okay?" he asked as he examined her right foot.

"Does this look okay?!" she cried out.

Paula's foot was beginning to turn pale; the other regions of it were turning purple colors. All signs of the beginning of a third degree burn.

* * *

"Jesus Christ," said a police officer as he looked down at the body of Steven. His stomach was torn open…

_Alison's free hand grabbed Steven's shirt tightly and began to saw into his abdomen in hopes that the key had perhaps been swallowed and was now stuck in his intestines._

…his right hand completely mangled…

_Steven took a step back and pushed against the box with his left hand, his other arm ripped through the needles and quickly made it out the other end._

…and next to his abdomen were his organs and bodily fluids.

_Alison grabbed the saw and began to carve away at a small sack-like organ inside of the opening, Steven's stomach. Syrupy liquid gushed out from the gut as Alison then ripped it apart; nothing could be found._

Flashes of camera lights went off as pictures of the bloody glass box were taken.

"Sir," said the officer as he looked up, a man dressed in semi-formal, officer clothing walked over to him. The man had a badge on his shirt that read: 'Special Agent Shaan Primo'.

"I don't understand," Agent Primo said as he clasped his jet-black hair. "There's not even a recorder, a cassette, or even a television. Doesn't Jigsaw usually leave those things behind?"

_Reaching into her cassette-filled pocket, Alison placed the recorder into the slot on the stand. Glass suddenly slit over to the top of the recorder, making it impossible to retrieve it._

"We found Officer Roy's body, SWAT Agents Tyson and Ivan, but where are Kevin and Paula? They were taking the case the last time we heard from them. But they've been missing for days and I thought I'd at least find their bodies here…" Shaan ranted as the officer kneeling next to him simply listened. "…but there's not a trace of them."

It was like a kidnapping. Would if be any easier if the family knew what had happened?

"Hey! I found something!" shouted an officer as he pressed against a wall with an hole--big enough for someone to look through--carved into the middle of it. The wall popped open slowly, and Agent Primo walked over to the small room within.

* * *

_A door opened at the end of the room and Grace dragged Steven's unconscious body across the dirty, tiled, floor. The florescent light bulbs flicked above as Grace flipped her boyfriend's body over and attached a large, mechanical object to his back. With an electric screwdriver in hand, she drilled in four small screws that would keep the large object attached to Steven's body._

_Grace plucked a wire that connected the device to the wall. She smiled softly and petted his head before walked toward John, who held a scalpel in his hand. A small hole had been carved into the wall._

_"It's set, John," Grace said as the Jigsaw Killer stood up straight and turned to her a nod._

_His hand pressed against the wall and it popped open. "Steven will start his game soon. The pain from the bolts will wake him," John said as he held the thin, wall-door for Grace who walked inside._

_Using the eye-hole as sort of a handle, John closed it shut._

_"Do you think Steven'll make it?" Grace asked with her hands grasping one another._

_"You know as well as I do that nothing it certain," John said as he glanced over to his apprentice. "You came to me so I could cure Steven, but I don't do anything but give them the tools. It's up to them to complete the operation."_

_John looked through the hole for a moment. "However, if Steven fails, I will set a game into motion involving everyone that has caused Steven the most harm. If he succeeds, I'll place each of those people into their own, individual trap."_

_Grace stood silent and listened to John as he spoke about his future traps._

_Suddenly, John stopped. He looked through the eye-hole. "He's awake. Come here; you need to see for yourself," John said as Grace shook her head._

_"I-I can't. I love him. I can't watch someone this close to me go through so much pain...but...I care about him enough to know he has to," Grace explained as John simply gave a nod and looked again through the eye-hole._

_"__God damn it!"_

_"__No, no! Please! Don't do this!"_

_"__Please, don't do this! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"_

_"__Fucking damn it!"_

_"__Graaaah!"_

_Each one of Steven's cries was like a chisel, slowing chipping away at Grace's mental state. She leaned her body against the wall as she bit her lip. Tears ran down her cheeks as pain began to show itself in Steven's shouting. His screams continued, but they were soon muffled by a horrific sound._

_**Reeeeeeeeeee!**_

_Grace slid to the floor and covered her face with her hands. Her sobs were uncontrollable and tears made their way through her fingers. But one final scream from Steven that drowned out the mechanical saw was what snapped Grace._

_"__John! Stop it! Make it stop!" Grace cried as John ignored her. He watched as Steven fell to the ground. His lifeless eyes met with John's._

_John blinked his eyes slowly, and only once. He moved away from the eye-hole and placed his hand on Grace's shoulder. There was sympathy in his eyes as Grace tried her best to hold back the tears._

_"__I think it's time to begin our game."  
_

* * *

"What-what…" came the voice of a man who glanced down at his white t-shirt and blue officer pants.

The man grasped the cuff around his neck and attempted to move. There was a rod, however, that held the cuff to the wall. He realized that this pole prevented him from moving up and down, but he soon discovered that he was able to move forward and backward. He stopped moving forward and back, however, when he discovered something else: an iron mask that was attached to a pole directly in front of him. This mask had hundreds of spikes jutting out from it.

"Aaah!" he cried out as he grabbed a chain that was attached to the front of the cuff. It also had spikes pointing out from it. The chain led across the room, through some sort of device, and to another man who was beginning to wake up.

"Hello," came Jigsaw's voice from a television set placed against a wall. Each man was able to see Jigsaw from only an angle, but his voice was still just as powerful.

* * *

_To be continued…_


	20. Act III: Scene iii

Scene iii

* * *

The man with the metal cuff around his neck continued his attempt to pull it off. However, the rod that held the cuff to the wall prevented the man from moving up and down. The cuff was firmly in place. So rather, the man could only move forward and back. But he was cautious, for an iron rod with a spiked mask was directly in front of him. This struggle continued, even as the television set turned on and Jigsaw's doll appeared on the screen.

"Hello, Agent Geoff…" said the doll as its mouth moved with its words. Its head turned slightly to the man struggling to try and take the cuff off. "…and Alex," he said as his head turned the other way to a tan man at the other end of the room. The long shackle connected Geoff's and Alex's cuffs together.

"Geoff, you're a police agent, an upholder of the law. But in your quest for justice, you've gone a bit over the edge. After the death of your wife you have sought out relief from your pain through your job. You see evil everywhere, and you fight to put people away in prison. Some of those people were hardly guilty of anything. Your sense of justice has become obscure and twisted. You've become a loose canon, Geoff." Geoff stopped pulling at the cuff around his neck and simply looked down, as if disappointment had suddenly sunk in. "Alex, you stand for everything that Geoff is against. You are a criminal. Injustice courses through your veins. You've served time in prison multiple times, but you don't quite understand the pain that you've put others through. Now—you both will feel that same pain. There is a shackle that connects both of you together; you are both linked by your unjustified deeds. The shackle runs through a small device in the center of the room. If you pull this chain hard enough toward you will flip a switch and you will be set free. However, the other person will be pulled into the barbed mask in front of them…resulting in their death. Be careful; the chain is riddled with spikes and needles. Is your live really so valuable that you'll kill a man whose worth is equal to your own? Live or die; make your choice."

The television screen turned to static, providing a bit of light in the room.

Geoff looked up from his chain to Alex who sat across the room. "Listen. We can figure ou—" the agent attempted to reason with Alex, but it went unheard.

"Fuck you, man!" Alex screamed in anger and pain. His hands gripped the spiked chain tightly and pulled it toward him.

"Hey!" Geoff screamed as he was pulled toward the iron mask before him. Its hundreds of iron barbs threatened to tear through his face. Geoff pushed his feet against the floor to stop his body from moving forward.

"Stop it!" he screamed again to Alex. Geoff refused to pull on his own chain to bring Alex to his death. However, he was getting too close to the spikes for his own comfort.

"We can work together and fix this! Listen to me!"

"I'm not dying today!" Alex screamed as he gave a quick but harsh tug. Blood began to pour from his palms. It ran down the chains as he continued to yell.

Geoff was yanked forward. He put his hands against the pole beneath the iron mask in an attempt to stop himself from moving. "Alex! Alex, please!" he cried out as his face came closer to the spikes.

"Aaaaah!!" Alex cried out. His body trembled but his hands pulled tirelessly to impale Geoff's face into the spiked mask.

The agent gave a cry of pain as several spikes began to submerge into his left cheek. He was pulled in closer, bit by bit. One the spike tips touched Geoff's closed eyelid. His body exploded with adrenaline form the realization that he was actually about to lose his eye.

"Son of bitch!!" Geoff screamed as grabbed the chain attached to his cuff, put one foot on the pole in front of him, and struggled hard to pull his head back.

Geoff pulled the chain toward him as his feet pushed against the ground. They slowly began to bring him back to the wall. "You fucking bitch!" he screamed as Alex tried to counter Geoff's sudden burst of strength.

"Aaaah!" the agent cried as he released the grip of his left hand and brought it up further above his right. He clutched his hand against the needles and blood squirted from his already-damaged hand.

"I'm sorry! Stop!" Alex pled, as his face was less than a foot away from the mask.

"Too late now!" Geoff screamed as he brought his right hand above his left. He squeezed the chain tight and his flesh chirped as the needles entered his muscle.

Geoff pulled hard as Alex's face dived right into the iron mask. "Aaaah! Aaaah! _Aaaaah!!_" Alex shrieked in pain as Geoff gave the chain some slack, allowing Alex to push against the pole and pull away from it.

_Slam!_

Geoff yanked the chain again and Alex found himself shrieking in pain once more. "How do you like it, bitch?" he screamed as moved his hands forward to allow Alex to pull his mangled wreck-of-a-face from the spiked mask.

_Slam!_

_Slam!_

_Slam!_

The agent performed this deed several more times before yanking hard against the chain and continued to pull forward.

"_Aaaaaaah!!!_" Alex yelled. Geoff could practically hear him gargling on his own blood.

He pulled hard; Alex's face seemed to not want move forward anymore. But a click rang out from the middle of the room and Geoff's cuff suddenly came undone, popping open.

Geoff opened up his hands, but the chain wouldn't simply fall. The spikes were dug far into his skin.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it—_aaaaah!!_" he screamed as he pulled his arms away from the chain. Skin stretched and snapped as it stayed attached to the bloody chain.

Pulling himself away from the unlocked the cuff, Geoff walked toward the television set, which had a key laid on top of it. A door right behind needed this key.

However, Geoff turned from the set and walked to Alex, whom had his arms dangling by his side and his face dug into the iron mask.

"Let's see that pretty face," Geoff muttered as he grabbed a handful of Alex's brown hair and pulled hard.

In a blood curdling sucking sound, Alex's face was pried from the mask. Strips of skin hung by his cheeks and a mess of red and liquid covered his face. His eyes were horribly scrambled in their sockets.

Geoff let go of his hair and, like a magnet, and his face fell right back into the mask.

* * *

"Come on, I got you," Kevin said as his back pushed against the door out of the dark room and into the hallway which had the appearance of an old, abandoned, office building, but all windows were sealed shut with steel.

Kevin aided Paula who hopped on one foot out of the room. "Damn it, it hurts," she said with closed eyes as Kevin brought her against the wall.

"Easy…" he warned her as she slid slowly to the ground. Paula's hands locked onto the ankle of her foot as the fingernails dug into skin. She tried her best not to grab the bottom of her burnt foot, which now was beginning to turn an odd purple color. "…How is it?"

"It _hurts!_" she reminded him as Kevin stood up straight.

"So what happened with that SWAT agent?" Kevin asked as Paula let the back of her head bang against the wall.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, she turned around and full-out decked you with her gun," Kevin explained as Paula looked Kevin into the eyes with a confused look on her face.

"I thought it was Jigsaw. Didn't he have something set up?"

"No, I saw it. Right before he took me out. He's old, but he knows how to bring someone down."

Paula looked to the ground for a moment. "So what did he put you through while you were in that building?"

Kevin went to spoke but stopped. The only person who ran through his mind was Jade.

"I wasn't really hurt. But apparently I didn't follow the rules. I got my hands cut up a bit on some spiked ladder steps," Kevin said, showing Paula his hands, which were wrapped in white medical tape. "But I guess Jigsaw didn't want me getting an infection and dying before he got to throw me into another one of his sick g—"

A door shut down the hallway and Grace walked out from it. She was rubbing her hands together as if she was attempting to soothe them.

She walked down the corridor and looked up at Paula and Kevin. An instant connection came to her mind. Grace had actually helped set up one of Kevin's traps. "You stuck here too?" she asked with a small attempt at a smile.

It seemed she would have to play innocent again.

"Not for long, hopefully," Kevin said as he looked at Grace's hands. They were a bit bloody on the palms, but nothing major.

"I'm Grace," she told them.

"I'm detective Kevin and this is my partner, Paula."

"You're…officers?" Grace asked, pretending to be surprised by the fact that officers were playing Jigsaw's games.

"I guess so," Paula said with her head turned the side.

Another door creaked open in the same direction where Paula had her head turned.

Geoff stepped out, holding Alex's black shirt in his hands as he closed the door behind him with his shoulders. "Hey, could I get some help over here?" he asked as Kevin began to move toward him.

"…Kevin?" Geoff asked with a surprised look on his face.

"Geoff," Kevin said as he stopped in front of the agent.

"You've been missing for a couple days! Is this where you've been?" Geoff looked to Paula who still sat on the ground. "And there's Paula!"

"I guess we've been here. I just woke up a few minutes ago," Kevin said as he scratched the back of his head, his eyes wandering down the next hallway. "What's that?" he asked as his eyes met with writing on the wall.

Geoff turned around to look as Kevin read, "Live your life."

Grace immediately moved down the hallway and stopped as soon as it came into view. The words 'Live Your Life' were written large in blood on the wall. It looked as if someone had written the words with the paintbrush that was almost out of liquid. The letters weren't fully developed and some spacing and patches were missing.

"Mock me all you want, you bastard," Grace muttered as she stared at the wall, remembering what Roy had told Alison before she died.

"I'll live my life all right…" she whispered in a hiss, "…by making sure you don't get to live yours." Anger filled her body as she clutched her fist tight.

She wanted nothing more than to see John die before her.

* * *

_To be continued…_


	21. Act III: Scene iv

Scene iv

* * *

An officer stepped over a broken, rotted, wooden board as he made his way to the center of the room. Christine lay in the center, a shackle around her neck and a large, bloody gap on her abdomen. Her skin was charred and the blood surrounding her was dry and added an extra foul stench to the mold that was already climbing up the walls of the room.

"This is disgusting," Special Agent Shaan Primo said as he crouched down to look at the wound in her stomach. "Jigsaw's a sicko. There's nothing I hate more than a murderer."

"He gives everyone a chance. They can save themselves," said an officer examining the recorder that lay on the floor. He turned around to face Shaan and simply shrugged his shoulders.

"It's murder. Cruel, sick, unjustified murder. I can't blame Detective Kevin for wanting to put him away so badly," Agent Primo said as he stood up straight.

"Hey," the officer said as he showed the recorder to Shaan. "There's still a working cassette in here."

The agent came forward, saying, "Let me see." The officer obeyed and handed Agent Primo the recorder and he quickly pressed play.

"Hello Christine," came the warped voice of Alison from the recorder. "You don't know me, but I know you. In fact…you might say I walked a mile in your shoes…"

"Who the hell is this?" Shaan asked as he looked over to other officers who stopped examining the crime scene and paid attention to the recorder.

"…You've skipped out on crucial assignments that led to the death of your fellow SWAT teammates. And now, two more have died because of your…'fun'."

"The two dead SWAT agents…" the officer muttered. "This girl said she walked a mile in Christine's shoes. She was the third missing SWAT agent. This…Jigsaw woman disguised herself as an agent. Right?"

Primo kept silent as he continued to listen to the recorder.

"…So your identity was stolen for that day and eventually I ended up in your outfit, leading your friends Detective Kevin and Paula into my trap. _You_ are the one responsible for what happened. You betrayed them once again. While they may be alive, they are currently in the agony of Jigsaw's trap."

The whole room stayed quiet, listening as the tape went on to explain the rules of Christine's game.

"They're still alive. They're still alive," Agent Primo said as the recorder ended with a click. "Jigsaw has another game going. Paula and Kevin...they are both in it I bet. We need to find out their location, and fast."

"This might not even be Jigsaw, Shaan," said one of the officers. "This is a girl now. Why would Jigsaw want a girl to set up a game? More importantly, why would, whoever this is, leave the recorder here? We scanned the _entire_ building where Officer Roy was killed. We didn't find one—single—recording. They've all been removed and taken out. Why would Jigsaw let us find the recorder now?"

"But this girl on the recording said she lead Paula and Kevin into a trap. She even mentioned that, 'they're in the agony of Jigsaw's trap.' She knows she's not Jigsaw. Maybe she's working for him. Maybe…she's trying to tell us something. Why would she have said so much on that tape? Just to make Christine feel guilty?" He sighed exasperatedly "No; there's something else going on here. We need to use this tape as much as we can and try to find out where the next game is being held," Agent Primo put the recorder into his pocket and walked away from the dead Christine and the officer who watched the agent head toward the exit of the room.

"It won't be that easy, Shaan. I doubt Jigsaw and his accomplice are going to willingly give us the information we desire."

* * *

"Aaaah—_aaaah!!_" came the odd screaming sound from a man who stood with his feet chained to the floor and his arms spread out wide. Shackles wrapped around his wrist and kept his arms up into the air. A small cuff was tightly placed around his tongue along with a small white string that extended from it and to some odd mechanical device.

Not that it mattered. The room was pitch dark and the man couldn't see a thing. He could feel, however, a single piece of barbed wire that pushed against his abdomen and continued on going to the wall behind him. The man could also feel another single piece of barbed wire that pushed against his back, just underneath his armpits. This barbed wire also continued on going to the wall in front of him.

"Ahah! Helaaagh!" the man was unable to speak correctly, for sharp, steel, objects were placed onto his teeth. Every time he went to close his mouth, he would end up cutting himself.

He suddenly noticed the feeling of something in his hands. It was cold, rectangular shaped, and had a row of…buttons. The man pressed his thumb down on the closest button and a recording began to play. "Hello Kenneth," came the voice of Alison, once again. "I want to play a game."

Kenneth shut his eyes tightly and moved his arms and legs. Although, whenever he moved too much, the barbed wire would cut a little bit more into his skin.

"All your life you've kept yourself shut off from the world, too shy to interact and too afraid to go out and make friends. This pathetic way of living is your own choice, but once you simply ran away from someone in need and ignored your dying mother's request to come back to her house and aid her…you began to harm others. You try to see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil. But in doing so, you've closed all connections. Now, let's see if you break out from this unhealthy state."

Kenneth's shoulders began to shake as he began to pull his head back, but the cuff around his tongue prevented him from moving it at all.

"Do you wish to see again? All you need to do is turn the light back on. Do you wish to speak again? The steel plating on your teeth will allow you to saw off your own tongue. Hopefully you'll be a bit more grateful of your ability to speak if you survive. Do you wish to hear again? Cut your tongue off quickly, or else the machine will start up and the only thing you'll be hearing is the barbed wire slicing through your torso. You have twenty seconds, Ken. Live or die; make your choice."

Alison's recording stopped and Ken struggled to free himself from the shackles that bound him to the floor. "Aaaaaah!!" he screamed loudly, as if someone would come and rescue him.

But no one was around to hear him scream.

"Okay, okay!" he shouted as tears rolled down his eyes. Every time he spoke the metal on his teeth cut into his tongue even more.

"Aaaah!" Ken shrieked as he pressed his teeth against his tongue. The steel points dug in just barely into his tongue. He had a lot of work to do in ten seconds.

He moved his teeth left to right, right to left, pushed down and grinded. Blood was filling in Ken's mouth but he spared no cries of pain to let it emerge. Some blood trickled down from the tip of the tongue, which stuck out from his mouth. The small, metal, cuff wrapped around his tongue pulled it out far and would not let Ken reel it back in.

The pain was almost unbearable, and the awful taste that came with it was just as terrible. Ken found himself almost gagging on blood; it was filling his mouth so quickly. He wished he could scrape off his taste buds.

The tongue was hanging by just a little bit. Ken was about to make another cut when a horrific grinding sound came to his ears. The machine had turned on and the barbed wire began to move.

It was slow but its speed was increasing. The barbed wire cut into Ken's stomach and against his upper torso. The two barbed wires worked to cut Ken deeply.

"Aaaaaah!!" he screamed as bit down hard and the front portion of his tongue came off. The cuff clung onto it as the piece of tongue dangling several inches from the floor.

But the machine didn't turn off. It was too late.

"Nooo!!" he cried again as all the blood that was storing in his mouth came running down his jaw. Ken coughed and gagged as the machine picked up speed.

Bits of skin tore off as the wire submerged itself in Ken's stomach. Blood ran down his waist as more sprayed into the air.

"_Stooooop!!_ I did what you asked!!" Ken yelled as the machine's speed furthered. The wire cutting his back sliced through muscle and began to nick his shoulder bones.

Ken bit his bloody lip and the metal dug into it. Green, syrupy liquid suddenly burst forward from his abdomen. Blood ran down with quicker intensity as Ken shook violently. He let his head rest back as he silently choked on his blood.

After a few more moments of cutting, the machine slowly died down. The crimson liquid continuously flowed down Ken's body and made several small puddles of blood underneath him.

* * *

Alison moved aside a dark red curtain as she entered a room. The floor was white and cold and the walls were just the same. Alison looked to Jigsaw, who sat in a chair in front of a set of monitors. However, they were each shut off.

"Ken failed, John," Alison said as she stopped and gripped the curtain behind her.

"That's two for two, Alison," John said as he let the pencil he held in his hand rest on the paper that it drew on. "It doesn't seem like your test subjects are doing very well."

"I gave them every chance, you know. Ken eventually cut his tongue off, but it was too late. The machine had started; he had failed," Alison watched as Jigsaw moved his eyes to meet hers. "I could hardly stand to watch the wire cut away at his stomach though…it reminded me of—" Alison stopped talking and looked down to the tiled floor.

_Alison grabbed the saw and began to carve away at a small sack-like organ inside of the opening—Steven's stomach. Syrupy liquid gushed out from the gut as Alison then ripped it apart._

"So what'll you do now?" Alison asked as she moved away from the curtains.

"We continue on with the game. Mister Shaan Primo has something to chew at now that he's found the building where Steven and Roy played their games. He'll be led to Christine and Kenneth as well, hopefully," John explained.

"What if Kenneth survived? Or Christine? Or both of them? What would you do then? What if Officer Kevin or Grace managed to do something you weren't expecting? Something that wasn't planned?"

John chuckled. "You must expect the unexpected. I plan for every possible outcome. _Everything._" His eyes bore into Allison's. "You need to be ready to encounter things that don't follow what you believe to be the natural order. This is something you need to understand before you can take on my work, Alison." The Jigsaw Killer folded his hands on his desk and looked up at Alison.

"Do you understand?"

* * *

_To be continued…_


	22. Act III: Scene v

Note: I have some stuff regarding the first two acts of Trepidation in my profile. It's semi-detailed analysis of my feelings of them. Also, I'll be on vacation for a little over a week. So there'll be short hiatus. But I promise you I'll begin to work on Scene vi when I return.

* * *

Scene v

* * *

"Erk," Paula groaned as she struggled to push herself up off the floor. But it was nearly impossible to stand; the pain from the burn wound on her right foot was far too intense.

Paula's hand clutched the wall as she hopped on her left foot. "Paula, hey!" Kevin said as he turned away from the writing on the wall and moved toward his partner.

Kevin grabbed Paula's shoulders to help her stabilize. She gently placed her right foot on the ground with a groan. "We have to keep moving, Kevin. We can't stop now," Paula told him as he simply nodded his head.

"Yeah, I know. Here," Kevin whispered as he let Paula wrap her arm around his shoulders. The two detectives moved forward, Paula still hopping on one foot.

Geoff continued to stare at the wall. "What does it mean?" he asked Grace.

"I'm not sure…" Grace replied, "…maybe it's just something to keep in mind?" Of course, Grace knew all too well what this phrase meant and how important it was.

Alison must have written it on the wall.

"Hey, let's go guys," Kevin said as he passed by Grace and Geoff. He continued to aid Paula down the hallway as the other two followed.

"Are you in the force?" Geoff looked to Grace as he asked her yet another question.

"No, why?" she replied.

"Just wondering. We're all in the force, but you're just…" Geoff stopped talking for a moment to look up at Paula and Kevin. "You're normal, I guess. Jigsaw seems to like to pick on officers. What did you do to get here?"

"Too much drugs and alcohol, I guess. At least…that's what he said on the cassette," Grace explained.

Even when she said she was a drug user she could still uphold her innocence. Although, the funny part was that she had never touched either of those things. She was completely sober.

Kevin stopped moving; his eyes glanced to the side at a door. It had a slip of paper taped to it. The detective used his right arm (his left was supporting Paula) to remove the slip of paper. It read: "Hello Kevin. You'll notice that your gun is missing, the same gun you tried to threaten me with in your search for justice."

_"Yeah, that's right. I'm gonna lock you up for good. You won't put anyone else into these sick little games of yours," Kevin chuckled as held his pistol with only one hand._

"Now," it continued to read, "if you wish to retrieve this weapon of yours, you'll have to play a game. Open the door before you."

Kevin obeyed its directions and moved Paula over to the wall and let her rest against it. "What are you doing?" Geoff asked as Kevin pushed open the steel door. A burst of hot steam came out of the room. Kevin grunted as he moved away from it.

The door continued to creek open as it revealed a pool of scalding hot water.

Kevin looked back down to the note and read aloud. "You'll see a small pool filled with blistering-hot water. Your gun, the weapon you so desperately need to perform justice, lies at the bottom of the pool. Is it really worth the pain, Kevin? You just may find that your gun will lead you to do very injust deeds."

"Let me see," Geoff said as he took the paper from Kevin who walked into the room.

A ladder was on the side of the pool to allow Kevin to exit it. He moved closer to the pool, already beginning to sweat.

"Can't we just wait for the pool to cool down?" Grace asked as Geoff slipped the paper into his pocket.

"No; there's heaters on the sides," Kevin said as he peered down in the water. It was impossible to see the floor of the pool.

With a sigh, Kevin began to remove the shirt he had on. "Wait," Geoff said as Kevin simply looked back at him. "Your clothes will protect you from the hot water. Keep them on."

"All right," he said as he pulled his shirt back down.

Kevin moved close to the pool as he took in a breath of hot air. He was the one that was the least injured at the moment and he knew it. Both Geoff and Paula had nasty wounds. Grace's wounds were minor, but Kevin wasn't about to let some poor girl--in his eyes anyway--take his place in a trap.

The detective took a few steps back and ran forward. He jumped forward and dove straight into the water. Kevin aimed to swim toward the center of the pool.

He gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut. Kevin wanted to badly to scream out in pain. It was like the water suddenly turning sweltering hot in a shower, except Kevin was forced to to withstand it.

Kevin's hands touched the bottom of the pool. The bottom was even hotter than the surface of the pool, and Kevin was forced to open his eyes to see where the gun was.

Jigsaw had placed chlorine in the pool as well. That, and the hot water, gave Kevin unbearable pain in his eyes. It far worse than accidentally rubbing soap into them.

Kevin shut his eyes tight and moved forward. His eyes were only open for a split second, but he saw the gun. It was only a few feet in front of him.

During what seemed like a whole minute, Kevin moved forward and patted the ground with his foot. He was slowly running out of oxygen, but he'd be damned if he had to go up to get air and then come back down.

Finally, his bare foot touched a hard object. He reached down and pulled a gun wrapped in plastic wrap from the floor. Kevin pushed up off the ground and swam violently toward the surface.

It had reached a point where the heat was making Kevin nauseous.

"Aaaaaaah!!" Kevin screamed as his head broke through the surface of the pool.

"Kevin, c'mon!" Geoff shouted as he reached his hand down toward the ladder.

He swam forward through the water. He stopped at the latter and threw the gun up over the side of the pool. It landed and slid across the tiled floor.

"Aaaah!" Kevin screamed again as he gripped the bars of the latter and climbed up.

Geoff grabbed Kevin's forearm and pulled him upward. The detective crawled along the floor. He did not stop moving, though. Kevin picked himself up off the ground as he ran through the open doorway.

Kevin ripped his vest off, and then threw his shirt off. "Aaaaaah!" he screamed again as he fell to his knees. His skin was pink and his whole body ached. At any moment it felt as though he would vomit. The pain he was feeling was white-hot and unbearable.

The cooler air was the only small aid he received for his burning body.

* * *

_A metal door silently opened, the same door that Kevin ran through to get to Jigsaw._

_Alison flicked a light switch and walked into the room. The lights were dim but allowed her to see._

_"What do you want!?" Kaden screamed, coughing immediately afterward._

_Alison didn't say anything to him as she walked over to two iron slots in the ground that were meant to hold a person in place. She held a mirror in her hands and placed it higher up on the wall so it was eye level with her._

_"You're not Grace…" Kaden said, "…Alison?"_

_She turned to look at Kaden. Blood trickled down his mouth and his skin looked paler than ever. The antidote fought hard to combat the poison in his body._

_"Yeah," she replied._

_"You're in on this whole fucked up thing too, huh?" Kaden asked with a smirk. "C'mon!" he screamed as Alison flinched. "I'm supposed to be the murderer! The sicko! But here you are—" Kaden coughed and used his hand to cover his mouth. His head was still pinned against the wall with the cuff, which kept him from moving. "—here you are. Is that what you get for winning his game? Aiding him in his killings? I didn't get that for what I went through!"_

_Alison pulled out a pudding cup from her pocket and a plastic spoon. "John knows what he's doing. He's not some serial killer like you," Alison hissed. "He knows what justice is."_

_"Justice? Justice!?" Kaden screamed. "You call this fair? You call this justice? I call this fucked up! Fucked up! Fucked up!" Kaden stopped screaming and coughed violently._

_Small drops of blood covered the floor beneath him. He tilted his head back as much as possible as he took in breaths of air._

_"Just shut up and eat this," Alison said as she let the pudding cover fall to the floor. She put the spoon in the cup and fed the glob of pudding to Kaden._

_"I think I'm capable of eating a pudding cup by myself," Kaden said. His hands were free and he quickly made a grab for the cup._

_"Fine then," Alison said as she tossed the spoon to the side and simply gave Kaden the cup._

_"You think I'll use the spoon to free myself? That's a little extreme isn't it?" Kaden chuckled as he used his tongue to lick the inside of the pudding cup._

_Alison walked toward the other door, not speaking a word to Kaden._

_"Why did Jigsaw choose you to help him? Think about it," Kaden said as Alison stopped. She turned her body around and was ready to tell him off. "It's because he's still testing you."_

_Alison remained silent as Kaden smiled. He knew he hit a nerve of some sort. "You're still upset over little Roy's death, huh? And Steven's too. He told you to move on, and you haven't. I don't think Jigsaw wants someone who doesn't obey his orders."_

_"Don't you listen you little bitch!" Alison shouted to Kaden. "I said, shut up!"_

_"Why don't you go make some other poor boy cut himself?" Kaden replied with a chuckle._

_Alison yanked the door open and slammed it shut, leaving Kaden alone in the room as he laughed to himself, pushing the pudding cup to his lips. His tongue shoveled the sweet substance into his mouth._

_Alison leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor. Her hands gripped the side of her head as tears rolled down her face._

_Is this really what Roy would've wanted? For her to become an accomplice to John's games? Roy wanted Alison to live her life. But is this what she meant?_

_Alison stayed in that same position, sobbing silently._

_

* * *

_

_To be continued…_


	23. Act III: Scene vi

Note: Sorry, for a third time, for such a long delay. The scenes shall continue as planned so don't fret. Also, two posters and a scene from Saw VI have been released.

* * *

Scene vi

* * *

Special Agent Shaan Primo stepped over a puddle of dried blood and looked up at Kenneth. He hung forward slightly; the shackles on his ankles and wrists kept him firmly in place.

_"Aaaah—aaaah!!" came the odd screaming sound from a man who stood with his feet chained to the floor and his arms spread out wide. Shackles wrapped around his wrist and kept his arms up into the air. A small cuff was tightly placed around his tongue along with a small white string that extended from it and to some odd mechanical device._

Another officer bent over to examine a wire on the ground. A small cuff attached to the tip of Ken's tongue, which had been cut off. "Wow," the officer said as he stood up. "This is some heavy shit."

Shaan looked back to the officer and to the chopped tongue on the ground. He looked back to Kenneth's corpse and the barbed wire that remained stuck inside his flesh.

The man's eyes wandered to the walls. Phrases were written in blood on the wall. They read, 'See No Evil', 'Hear No Evil', and 'Speak No Evil'.

"Mister Primo," said a detective as she walked calmly over to him. "We've got another cassette."

She held out the recorder to Shaan who was quick to take it. "Again?" he asked as the detective just gave a shrug.

Agent Shaan clicked the play button and kept the recorder by his side as it went through the rules of Kenneth's game, which played once again in Alison's warped voice.

"Hello Kenneth. I want to play a game," the recording said. But Primo paid little attention to the reasons for why Kenneth was put in to the trap. He was listening for important details and information. Clues to where the next game will be held.

"You try to see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil. But in doing so, you've closed…" the tape continued on as Shaan put the recorder to his ear. The tape soon ended and Shaan gave a heavy sigh.

"What the hell is going on?" Agent Primo asked as he looked around the room to the other officers. "Is Jigsaw's helper trying to tell us something or not? Is she just trying to _fuck_ with us?"

"Hey," an officer said. On the tape it asked this Kenneth guy if he wanted to see again and it told him all he needed to do was turn the lights back on. There's no way he could've seen the writing on the wall without light." The officer pointed to the blood-written phrases on the wall. "This was for us to see."

Shaan Primo scratched his dark-colored hair. His eyes moved up to Kenneth and scanned his body. "On the last recording the girl talked about betrayal and how she lead Paula and Kevin into a trap. Maybe she's on the force somehow. Let's go back to station where Kevin and Paula was. There may be something we haven't seen."

The agent looked up to the other officers who simply agreed. "We don't have much time," he reminded them. "Even if this is all a trap for us…" Primo said; he had full knowledge of Jigsaw's ingenious plans. "…there are lives at stake here. And we need to do what we can."

* * *

Kevin remained on his back, breathing deeply. His skin was a light pink at this point. Ten minutes had passed since he got out of the scalding hot pool. The door to the pool had been closed already.

Agent Geoff held the gun and Kevin's shirt in one hand and used the other to feel the steel plating over the window. His hands had strips of dried blood on them, but the wounds had already begun to heal. "Every single damn window is sealed. Did Jigsaw do this?" Geoff asked as he turned his head to the others.

Grace gave a shrug, but this question made her think. Even with Alison helping him, how could John and her go through the entire building and seal _everything_ up without being noticed? The simple answer was that he couldn't have. This building had been already fully sealed up when John started the game.

The government was—and is likely still—hiding something there.

"Kevin," Geoff called out for the detective who looked up. "This steel is actually kind of cold."

Kevin pushed himself off the ground, wincing in pain as he did so. Paula watched Kevin stagger over to the window. Paula's right foot was now even paler than before. Purple and red blotches were forming at the bottom of her foot.

The detective pressed his body against the steel plating and gave a sigh of relief as he did so. "That feels so nice," Kevin said with a chuckle.

"Are we timed?" Grace asked, looking to Geoff for an answer. "For our game, I mean. Do we have a limited amount of time to 'escape'?"

"I…don't think so," the agent responded.

"When I played his game last time, he gave me a goal. I was to meet with him if I continued through the game. Going through all his traps and challenges," Kevin began to say, moving over to another steel plate and pressing his back against it. "Eventually I met up with him, but it was all for nothing. I let people die rather than let Jigsaw go…"

_"If you had overcome your obsession with capturing me, Kevin…" Jigsaw began. "…Detective Paula would've come and taken me away anyways. But now Kaden, Mary, and Jade have to die because of your obsession."_

"So what goal are we going for this time?" Paula asked. "We're just moving through the building at this point. Are we supposed to be accomplishing something?"

"I guess so," Geoff said as he looked over to Grace. She appeared to be preoccupied with her own thoughts.

"That's scary," Kevin announced. "At least I knew what was going on last time. But now…it seems like all we're doing is trying to survive. He asked me in a recording if I wanted to see him imprisoned…"

_"Has Jade taught you a valuable lesson about obsession, Kevin? Has her death showed you the error of your ways? Or do you still want justice? Do you still want to see me rot in prison? Tonight, we shall find out."_

Geoff placed the gun into his back pocket and threw Kevin's shirt in front of him. "We should probably get going," said Geoff, "that is, if you're all right now."

"Yeah. I'm okay," Kevin said, grabbing his shirt from the floor.

Paula pushed against the ground and stood up. Her right foot didn't fully touch the ground. "I got you," Grace said as she let Paula lean on her.

The four of them moved down the hall to the door at the very end. Grace looked back to the phrase, 'Live Your Life', written in blood at the beginning of the hallway once more.

Geoff pulled on the door handle. It moved an inch but it didn't open fully. "Geez. Is this thing locked?" he asked, gripping the handle tight but quickly released it. "Ow! Damn it!" Geoff looked down to his cut and torn hands. The wounds were beginning to re-open.

Kevin grabbed the door handle. It was cold as well and felt nice against his healing hands. He breathed in deep, took a step back, and pulled hard against the handle.

_Crack!_

A wire snapped from the top of the door as it was pulled open. The lights flickered on in the bronze-colored room. There were steel containers spread out across the room, but Paula looked past all of it and saw the person at the end of the room.

"Carl?" Paula screamed to the man. He stood on one of the steel containers. A steel shackle was wrapped around his neck and connected to the wall, keeping him in place. A thick wire traveled from the shackle and to a p.

Carl had moved his eyes from the ground and to Paula. He was able to recognize her, even as the lights flickered on and off.

They moved into the room, Paula still focusing her attention onto Carl.

"Who is he?" Geoff asked Kevin.

Kevin had a dumbfounded look on his face before turning to Geoff. "Her ex-husband," he replied.

_"And Paula…the divorce with your husband has left you cold, and angry. You forcefully took custody of child and threatened to pull some strings and imprison him if he refused. Is this what you call** justice**, miss detective?"_

Grace continued to help Paula as she moved closer and closer to Carl. "What happened?" Paula asked, examining his body as she noticed something attached to the shackle. It was a small device with a hook pinned against Carl's back. "Carl…" Paula asked, "…what happened?"

Suddenly, the door behind them closed shut and locked. A speaker in the top corner of the room turned on and Jigsaw's voice followed.

"Hello Paula. Look before you and you will see your ex-husband. Despite your fighting and threats he still chose to save you. You see, I gave him the choice to either place himself, or you into this trap. His survival depends on not only yourself, but your friends as well, Paula."

Paula looked up to Carl who appeared to have a very frightened look on his face. He was unsure whether he was going to live or not.

"Look to the right of Carl. There are five holes placed high on the wall. Each of you shall place your hand into a hole. Your hands will be crushed and then sliced clean off. Take notice that there are a limited amount of people who can place their hands into the holes. Assuming there are still four of you, at least one of you will need to sacrifice both of your hands for Carl to survive. However…if all five gaps are not filled, Carl shall die," Jigsaw explained. Tears suddenly began forming in Paula's eyes.

"His death shall be quick, relatively painless, and a surprise. Will you all let an innocent man die to keep your hands? Considering all four of you need your hands to continue your acts of _justice_. Especially you, Grace…"

Grace bit her bottom lip as she looked up to the speaker in the corner of the room. She feared that John would reveal the truth. After all, she was in a room with three officers.

"…How else shall you build traps and continue to be my apprentice if your missing your hands?"

Everyone had been letting his or her eyes wander until this point. All attention was immediately drawn to Grace who was forced to come up with a new plan.

"You all have two minutes. Life or death, make your choices."

The speaker shut off and Grace pushed Paula to the ground and backed away in fear that Paula would do something to harm her.

Geoff pulled the gun from his pocket and pointed it to Grace. The blood from his wounds still flowed and trailed down the gun's handle. "Put both your hands into the slots," Geoff said as he nudged his head to the holes on the wall.

Normally an officer would say, 'hands up,' but this seemed just as good.

"You!" Kevin screamed as a timer with one hundred and seconds lit up above Carl's head began to count down as Paula crawled forward to the wall.

"You're the one who knocked out Paula, aren't you?" Kevin gripped the shirt in his hand tight as he moved toward Grace, who took a step back.

_The disguised member bashed the very end of her gun into Paula's head. She was instantly knocked out as her body slammed against the wall and fell onto the stairs, unconscious._

"That wasn't m—"

"Bullshit!" Kevin screamed, interrupting Grace, who was actually telling the truth. "You go put your fucking hands in there you fucking whore!"

Grace clenched her fists tight as she looked from Kevin to Geoff. "Don't you think you should save your bullets?" she asked with a small grin.

"No," Kevin replied. "I'd be more than willing to do anything to kill you or your sick friend, Jigsaw. I'd say it's well worth the bullets. We're just getting our worth out of you."

Grace's smile went away as she looked into the eyes of Kevin as Carl gave a sudden scream for help.

Who was really the sick one? Kevin or John?

* * *

_To be continued…_


	24. Act III: Scene vii

Scene vii

* * *

"Please! Help me!" Carl shouted. He pulled on the cuff around his neck and moved forward in a desperate attempt to rip the chain from the wall, though to no avail.

Paula gripped the wall and pulled herself up. She looked up to Carl and shook her head with gritted teeth. "Why? Why would you put yourself into a trap instead of me?" she asked with tears in her eyes.

"I couldn't bare to see you die," Carl whispered to his ex-wife. "That man on the recording, he gave me a choice: to place you into trap that could possibly kill you, or place myself into it. I had to choose myself. I didn't want to see you harmed in anyway...though I guess I didn't really help much," he said as he glanced down to Paula's wounded foot.

"I'm all right," she assured him.

"He promised a swift and painless death for me," Carl explained. "He…he told me that my sacrifice was for the greater good. He told me that I'd be doing a great act of justice."

"God damn it, move!" Kevin shouted and Grace flinched. Geoff held the gun but Kevin gave all the commands.

"Oh you can go shove it," Grace hissed.

"Listen," Geoff said, interrupting Kevin before he could assault Grace. "This is a game of survival. And I have no problem with killing you, cutting you up, and sticking each of your limbs into those _damn_ holes!" he screamed. "So you better take this wonderful opportunity to keep your life."

Grace kept an unchanged face through Geoff's threat. Her eyes locked with his and she took not another step backwards. "Go ahead then. Shoot me," Grace said with a smile. "Jigsaw was right. You have no sense of what's right or wrong. You've become consumed with the thought that everyone is evil. How many people have you imprisoned that didn't entirely deserve it? How many people are suffering because of your little emotional problem?" Grace asked with chuckle.

"_Geoff, you're a police agent, an upholder of the law. But in your quest for justice, you've gone a bit over the edge. After the death of your wife you have sought out relief from your pain through your job. You see evil everywhere, and you fight to put people away in prison."_

Geoff gave a scowl as he placed his pistol by his side as the timer above Carl reached '150'.

"And you, Kevin," Grace said, "you're just fucking nuts. You think Jigsaw's got problems? You deserve to be in jail just as much as any of Jigsaw's victims."

Geoff took several steps forward as Grace continued to speak, interrupting another possible assault by Kevin. Geoff quickly grabbed the handle of his pistol and smacked Grace across her cheek and brought her straight to the ground.

Grace fell hard and began to push herself up off the ground, blood running from her mouth. Geoff used one hand to pull up Grace by the hair and used his other hand to push the gun to her injured cheek. "Well, sometimes you gotta be a little _fucking nuts_ to get the job done," Geoff told her with a grin as he moved toward the wall with Grace's hair still in his grasp.

Kevin watched from a distance with awe as Geoff slammed Grace's face into the wall and backed up, keeping his gun pointed at her. "All right, put each of your hands into a hole," he ordered Grace as she gripped the wall and looked back at him, a bigger wound on her cheek than before.

"Does it look like I'm kidding!?" he asked with stern authority in his voice.

Jigsaw's apprentice turned from Geoff to the holes a foot above her head. She moved her arms up to the holes and slid each hand into a hole simultaneously. Paula took a few steps back from Grace and looked up at Carl. His view was focused on the scene between Geoff and Grace.

Grace's eyes immediately widened as she let out a loud shriek. Drops of blood continued to fall from her cheek and to the ground from the pistol-whip.

Geoff turned his head to look at Kevin. "Come on. Grace is taking two of the five holes so you, Paula, and I will take the other three," Geoff explained as Kevin simply stood still. He looked to Paula for a moment who was silently pleading to Kevin to help her ex-husband.

_Thud!_

Agent Geoff fell to the ground after a punch in the back of the head from Grace, who never fully pushed her hands into the holes. The pistol escaped Geoff's grasp and Grace placed a well-deserved kick to his side.

Grace bent over to pick up the pistol and took a few steps back and pushed herself up against the wall, aiming the gun at Geoff's neck.

"You bastard!" Grace screamed, pulling the trigger to the gun just as the timer above Carl hit '100'.

* * *

Dark red curtains moved aside as Alison walked into the room. Her eyes were set on Jigsaw, who was placing the shut-off monitors into boxes.

"John?" Alison asked as the man looked up to her with his dull eyes. "What're you doing?"

"Preparing," was all he said as closed the top of the cardboard box and used a roll of tape to keep it completely shut.

"For what?" she asked.

"Every possible outcome."

"But—" she stuttered as she looked around the barren room that consisted only of a bed, chair, desk, and some cardboard boxes. "—what about the game? With Grace?"

"I don't need monitors. We'll know soon enough the outcome of our game. It's too dangerous to leave them lying about after this is all over. Trust me," John explained, placing the roll of tape down on the desk.

Alison looked to the floor and then back to John who gently sat down in the chair. "How is the investigation of the Jigsaw Killings lead by Special Agent Shaan Primo going?" he asked.

"I drove by the building," Alison said with her hands in her jeans. "There were police cars. I can't imagine it taking them any longer than a few more hours before they figure it out."

"Good," John said with a slight nod.

"But I need to ask you something," Alison said as John merely tilted his head to her. "Are you testing me?" she asked. "Am I being tested right now?"

"_Why did Jigsaw choose you to help him? Think about it," Kaden said as Alison stopped. She turned her body around and was ready to tell him off. "It's because he's still testing you."_

_Alison remained silent as Kaden smiled. He knew he hit a nerve of some sort. "You're still upset over little Roy's death, huh? And Steven's too. He told you to move on, and you haven't. I don't think Jigsaw wants someone who doesn't obey his orders."_

Her curiosity was booming.

"Always," John replied as Alison let her jaw drop slightly. "I'm always watching you. Testing you. I can't have a flawed apprentice. I know you still struggle over Roy and Steven's deaths. But now you know how to handle it. You know the reasons for why they, and so many others, have died. Everyone deserves a last chance." He paused, searching her face for understanding. "And I need someone who will listen to me and follow my orders. Right now, you are the person whom I depend on the most. I'm not going to steer you into any painful trap. I will try my best to keep you away from danger."

John became silent again for a few moments, looking up at Alison who finally spoke. "All right," she said, a bit more relieved by John's response.

"Alright," he said, slowly rising from his chair. "Come; help me take away these boxes."

* * *

_Click!_

Grace tugged on the trigger, but only a 'click' emerged from the gun. It had no bullets within its chamber.

"Damn it, John," Grace whispered, backing away from Geoff as he got himself back on his feet.

"Kevin!" shouted Geoff. He looked to the detective, hoping that he would grab a hold of Grace.

Grace continued to move away from the group with the pistol clutched tightly in her hand. "Don't bother. I'm still in a better condition than you," Grace snapped to Kevin who simply scowled at Grace. He was angered by the sudden turn of events.

"Guys!" Carl shouted, tilting his head back to look at the timer. "I don't mean to be a bother…but…"

Paula glanced up to the clock that counted down to Carl's death. "Look," she began, but Geoff did not take his eyes off of Grace. "We don't need Grace. Kevin and I can sacrifice both of our hands, and Geoff, you can give up one."

"What?" Kevin asked with surprise in his face.

"You have to, Kevin!" pled Paula. "I let you live, and Geoff has already injured hands." She looked to Kevin with great desperation in her eyes. "You're not going to let someone die, are you? He hasn't even done anything wrong! If anything…" Paula paused for a moment, looking at the ground. "…I should be the one up there."

Kevin clenched his hands tight. The words of Jigsaw echoed through his mind.

"_You say I'm a villain. A criminal. You think I deserve to be put away. But what about you? Did you not just put three people to their deaths to come capture me? I test people who do not deserve life, and you helped me test them. You were the deciding factor in whether they lived or died."_

Grace looked to Kevin. He did not move—he did not flinch. It was clear to Grace that Kevin wasn't willing to sacrifice a piece of body for the safety of an innocent person.

She gave a smirk as she watched Kevin's unwavering body. Paula gave a cry of frustration.

"Come on, damn it!" Paula screamed to Kevin who only stared at the floor. "I saved your life! I could've let you die! Why won't you help me!?" she screamed, tears continuously rolling down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry…I can't," was all Kevin said.

"Are they that important to you? Your hands?" she shrieked. "Isn't this your job? To help save people? So help _him_! Help _us!_"

Kevin continued to look away. A chuckle came from Grace.

"I should've let you die!" Paula screamed as she banged her hands against the wall behind her. She turned her head to Grace, looking for some sort of assistance.

She chuckled again. "You expect me to help you? After Geoff bashed my freakin' head? Granted, I wouldn't have done it anyways. But now, first chance I get, I'm throwing you assholes to the dogs."

Paula turned around to face the wall. She bit the bottom of her lip as she reached up to slide each hand into a hole. There was a button of sorts at the end of the chamber within the holes. She pressed her hands against them and a mechanical wiring automatically took place. The walls at the end of the chamber moved in and began to crush Paula's hands.

"_Aaaaahh!!_" she screamed in pain as the walls pushed against her fingers. The sounds of bones breaking were excruciatingly clear. Blood rushed down the chambers from the couple of bones that broke through her skin, similarly to a knife suddenly cutting into a piece of raw, bloody meat.

Geoff watched the blood run down from the holes as the timer hit '50'.

"Kevin," Geoff said. The detective did not turn his head to look at him. "I'll put both my hands into two slots. You just need to give one hand. Please; you have to!"

Begging with all of his heart, Geoff placed one of his hands near a hole in an attempt to show Kevin he wasn't lying.

Kevin didn't budge. Trepidation filled his mind and body. If he lost even one hand he couldn't be on the force. He'd lose his job. The life of Carl wasn't worth the many lives he'd save in the future.

In Kevin's eyes, the trap wasn't that Carl was going to die, but that Kevin would have to give up his job to save Carl. And through that, Kevin wouldn't be capable of apprehending Jigsaw.

But who would understand? To everyone else, this was some unhealthy obsession. Do they not realize if Jigsaw were in jail, none of this would even be happening?

"You're scum," Geoff muttered as he bore his teeth. "You deserve to be here. You deserve whatever torture comes your way." Geoff looked to Grace who simply smiled as she watched the bickering. "Grace, help me get Kevin over here. We can put _his_ hands into the slots. Don't do it to help me, do it to help yours—"

"I have no interest in doing anything of the sort," Grace said a snort as she shook her head. "I didn't put any one of you bastards in here. Jigsaw's deemed me unworthy to be his apprentice so he's testing me. You're the ones who attacked me. I don't know who helped John knock you out and dragged you here." Grace glanced over to Kevin who still continued to stare at the ground. "But it sure as hell wasn't me."

"I'm sorry!" Geoff shouted.

Grace laughed as she tilted her head back slightly. "All the 'sorries' in the world won't get me to help you."

An abrupt buzzer noise went off as the timer hit '0'.

"No! Please!" Paula shouted, the crushing of her hands had stopped moments earlier, but since all the holes were not filled, no blade came down to chop off her hands.

The walls slowly moved back into place inside the two chambers as all eyes moved to Carl who stared at Paula, terror in his eyes.

The room was completely silent as the walls inside the chamber were back to normal. Carl continued to stare as his lips finally moved.

"I lov—"

He was interrupted by the hook on the back of his cuff which suddenly snapped forward, submerging into his flesh and connecting with his spine.

The sound of electricity emerged from the hook as a massive shock was sent through Carl's spine. He shook in place from the strong electrical current. Blood poured from his mouth and the shaking continued for a few more seconds until the current stopped. Carl's lifeless body leaned forward; the chain that connected the cuff to the wall prevented him from falling completely forward.

Though the current continued for almost ten seconds, Jigsaw stayed true to his promise of a quick and relatively painless death.

Carl was dead the instant the electricity began to flow.

* * *

_To be continued..._


	25. Act III: Scene viii

Note: I'm deeply sorry that this chapter took so long. I've been away for about a week, and before I left, I had my chapter fully completed. But my internet died, and my memory stick wouldn't work in my girlfriend's computer. I was pretty upset. But here it is, at last. Enjoy.

* * *

Scene viii

* * *

Carl's body remained completely still. The only movements it made were the sudden spasms from the electricity leaving his body.

Paula fell to her knees as her bloody, mangled hands hit the floor. She looked up at the corpse of her ex-husband, tears in her eyes.

"Paula…" Kevin mumbled as she turned to look at him. She bore her teeth at him and struggled to get herself up off the ground.

"You bastard!" Paula screamed as she pushed against the floor with her crushed hands. The pain that surged through her body was hot as fire; it felt like her veins were igniting. But the hatred that she had for Kevin far surpassed this terrible pain.

Paula limped forward, her eyes set on the detective. "I saved your life!" she cried out. Pain continued to flow through her body every time she pressed down on her right, burned, foot. "And this is how you repay me?"

Before she could reach Kevin, the door at the end of the room suddenly snapped open. Geoff turned to look at the next hallway and gave a shout. "Paula! Stop!" he paused, "there's some cloth and water over here!"

Kevin didn't bother to look up and face Paula. He kept his head turned down, ready to receive whatever physical punishment that she had planned.

Paula stopped moving and looked back to Geoff who was now coming forward to help her to door.

Paula tilted her head to Kevin and said, "we've been partners for years. But I guess that all meant nothing to you, huh?" Geoff put one of her arms around his shoulders and aided her across the room.

Grace kept her arms folded across her chest, the pistol in her back pocket, as she walked past Kevin. "I wonder," she whispered to him. "Is there really any difference between you and me? A detective and a criminal?" she asked, waiting for a response, but Kevin said nothing.

"I guess not."

* * *

Policemen stood in front of Kevin's desk. Talking amongst each other as they moved through files on his desk as Shaan drew closer to them.

"There are no clues here at all, sir," said one of the officers as Agent Primo simply gave a sigh; his hand pressed against the wall.

Shaan Primo's eyes glanced around the room, a frustrated look on his face. "There has to be something that this Jigsaw girl is trying to tell us. The real Jigsaw hasn't been leaving recorders around for us to look at. But this girl _has_," explained Shaan, scratching at the back of his head.

"Maybe it's time to face facts," said one of the officers as Primo looked toward him. "This new girl is simply just…inexperienced. She must've just accidentally left the recorders behind."

Shaan couldn't believe the officer. If this girl was anything like Jigsaw, she wouldn't just accidentally leave something behind.

"Primo!" came the sudden shout of a detective in a different room. "You might want to come look at this!"

Curiosity overcame the agent as he followed the voice of the detective into a lit room. The detective stood in front of a series of filing cabinets; one of the drawers was wide open.

"All the drawers were locked except that one," the detective said as Shaan walked into the room. "And this file…" he held up a thin folder with only a dozen or so papers inside, "is missing a paper." He walked up to Agent Primo and handed him the folder as he quickly looked through it. The missing page was obvious.

"Wait—these are the directions to that abandoned building. The one with the—"

"I know," said the detective with his hands in his pockets.

"We can't make any clear assumptions yet. But I think we found where Jigsaw's holding his next game," Primo said with a smile, keeping the folder by his side. "Let's get everyone to Tobin Street. Before it's too late."

* * *

Paula sat on the ground, her hands in the bucket of cool water. Three other buckets were lined up against the wall, filled with cool water as well. However, no one else had injuries that needed to be tended to.

Geoff knelt down next to Paula and picked up cloth from the floor. "Hurry and let me wrap your wounds before you lose too much blood," he whispered.

As Geoff began to wrap cloth around Paula's hands Kevin walked silently into the room, hands in his pockets and his head tilted to the wall.

The four remained silent with Grace leaning against the wall. A few minutes passed until Geoff finally stood up, finished tending to Paula's wounds.

"We should keep going," Agent Geoff suggested. He helped Paula to her feet and aided her down the hallway. Kevin and Grace trailed close behind.

"Hey, look," Paula said, her eyes set on a door to the right. A piece of paper was taped to that door, as well as the one on the left.

Geoff moved to a spot in between the two doors. One of the papers read, 'Geoff', and the other read, 'Grace'.

"He wants us each to go into one," Grace said, moving up to her door. She turned to look Geoff in the eyes. "Alone."

"Do you know what's gonna happen?" asked Geoff.

"I didn't help Joh—err—Jigsaw, with this game."

Geoff gave a sigh and walked over to the wall and let Paula sit on the floor. "I'll be out quick, I promise," Geoff said, pushing open his door and walking inside. No more then a few seconds later it shut hard and a locking sound emerged from the door.

"Shit, John," Grace muttered as she pushed open her door. While it closed shut, it did not lock. She gave a glance back to the door in surprise before looking back to the contents of the room.

Grace moved forward to the desk, which had a lit candle on it. The candle was almost completely melted; a puddle of wax was building up in a small bowl in which the candle sat on.

She first picked up two bullets on the desk. She immediately reached for her pistol with the other hand. "You knew…" Grace muttered, inserting them into her gun's barrel, "…you knew I'd take the gun."

Her eyes wandered to the two pieces of paper on the desk. One of them had a strip of tape attached to the top.

Grabbing the piece of paper without the tape attached to it, she quickly noticed a key underneath the paper. But it wasn't a key to a door—it was a _car_ key.

Grace muttered the note that John had left her on the paper. "If you happen to succeed this next and final challenge, drive to the following location." Her eyes moved down to a street address, a place where she instantly recognized. It was where she had first met up with John. "I, and my latest apprentice, shall be waiting for you. As for the other paper, you'll know to use it when, and if, the time comes." Grace finished reading the paper and put it into her pocket.

As soon as she finished with the first piece of paper, she grabbed for the next, pulling it toward her face as she read through it. Her eyes squinted and her face filled with confusion. She even read through it again just to be sure she was reading it correctly. "John…what are you planning?" she asked as she folded the paper up neatly, being sure to keep the piece of tape attached as she placed it into her pocket.

Before leaving the room she grabbed a note that must've been placed underneath the last paper. "'Leave Geoff and move on'…?" Grace read the note and let her arm fall to her side. "Should've figured," she chuckled as she moved back to the door. Grace pushed it open and lifted the note into the air to show Paula and Kevin, who seemed to have been sitting in awkward silence.

"Looks like Geoff won't be joining us any longer," she announced.

* * *

Geoff attempted to pull on the door that locked behind him. "Shit," he cursed, looking back to the room he just entered.

A single fluorescent light bulb was dimly lit. Providing just enough light to see the contents of the room. A several foot tall block sat in the center of the room. Geoff moved forward toward it when the sudden sound of static caught his attention.

"Hello, Geoff," came the sudden voice of Jigsaw from a speaker on the ceiling. "Welcome to your final challenge. Look before you on the desk, you'll find a pair of handcuffs on top of the board. Put on the handcuffs, Geoff. Like you've put on so many undeserving victims."

Geoff's eyes glanced down to the board and the handcuffs.

"You see evil everywhere, and you fight to put people away in prison. Some of those people were hardly guilty of anything. Your sense of justice has become obscure and twisted."

Geoff picked up the handcuffs from the top of the table and put them on his hands like Jigsaw ordered. Afraid that disobeying his rules would lead to grace consequences.

"The table in front of you has three slots. Each of the slots requires a puzzle piece to complete your game. There is one piece at each station you see around you. Start at the station at the bottom left corner of the room and proceed clockwise."

The agent turned to the corner of the room. There was some sort of tube that rose up from the floor.

"You'll go through a complete transformation if you succeed, Geoff. But you must learn the lessons of pain, letting go, and trust. If you can learn these lessons you will learn true justice. You will have no missing pieces to your puzzle. However, if you do not succeed these tasks before your fellow police agents arrive, and they attempt to open the locked door, a bomb will go off in this room. And you will die a criminal. For _that_ is what these handcuffs signify. Can you break free of your 'criminal' status, Geoff? Can you truly become a man of justice which society sees you as? Live or die, Geoff. Make your choice. Let the game begin."

* * *

"So we just…go on without him?" Kevin asked as Grace gave a shrug.

"I guess so. But we better start going now. Geoff won't be out of there for a while, I'm assuming," Grace said as she simply let the slip of paper fall to the floor.

"Come o—" Kevin was interrupted as he extended his hand to help Paula off the floor.

"I'm capable of helping myself," she snapped. Her back leaned against the wall as her body rose up. While her right foot was burned, she was still able to use it, if only a little bit.

The three of them continued down the hallway and turned the corner, a flight of stairs leading downward caused Paula to suddenly stop moving and give a small groan.

"Here," Grace said, cautiously putting Paula's arm around her shoulders. Not wanting to spark any sudden anger within the detective. But she allowed it, and the two moved slowly down the stairs, Kevin close behind.

A grin came across Grace's face.

Paula would rather take a criminal's help than her own partner's.

John had created quite the mess it would seem.

The stairs ended and the three of them continued on until reaching a large room. Metal and wooden boxes were piled in the corners and a large, open, vault sat in the middle of the room. Several yards in front of the vault was a cassette recorder, and in front of the recorder was two stools.

Kevin moved toward the recorder and picked it up, quickly pressing playing as he turned toward Grace and Paula.

"Hello Grace, Kevin, Paula. And welcome," said Jigsaw from the recorder. "Grace and Paula, both of you take a seat on a stool you see before you. Kevin, look back to the open vault and walk in front of it."

As Kevin moved toward the vault Grace helped Paula onto her stool. Grace then proceeded to take her own seat on a stool.

"Look down into the vault Kevin," Jigsaw ordered as Kevin obeyed. It was completely dark inside the vault, but a handgun was visible on the very edge of the inside of the vault. "Pick up the gun. Notice it only has one bullet."

"…Kevin?" Paula asked, hearing what the recording said.

Kevin held the gun in one hand and the recorder in the other as he moved to Grace and Paula. "Now you have two choices, Kevin. You may kill Grace, and you and Paula both can go home happy while my whereabouts remain unknown. Or you can kill Paula. For if you do, I promise you that it will be known to the authorities of the Jigsaw Killer's true identity along with Grace's identity as Jigsaw's apprentice. I can assure you Kevin, that if you kill Paula I will give you no sort of punishment whatsoever. There is no right or wrong choice. I am no longer a part of this game from here on out. Who will live, Kevin? Make your choice. Let the game begin."

* * *

Geoff moved up to the tube in the corner of the room. There was a meal lid placed on top of it, but there was noticeable heat coming from the tube.

The agent grabbed an edge of the lid with his cuffed hands and pulled the lid off of the tube.

"Jesus!" he yelled as he took a step not only the steam that rose from the tube, but also the foul odor that came along with it.

Geoff moved back to the tube and looked down to see boiling, bubbling, blood in the tube. The tube was large enough for Geoff to fit both his hands into it. "Damn it. Damn it!" Geoff muttered as he took a step back.

The puzzle piece had to be at the bottom of the tube. Could he just wait until it cooled off and then try to get it out? No…Jigsaw said the police would be coming. But how soon was that? Kevin, Paula, and himself have been missing for over a day. It wouldn't be too long now. He didn't have much time to waste.

"Alright, alright," Geoff mumbled as he moved close to the tube. He took in a deep breath of air to prepare himself.

"Shit!" he screamed as he submerged his arms into the thick tube of blood.

"Aaaah!!" he cried in pain as he pushed his arms down further. The hot blood stung and scalded his skin.

"Come on!!" Geoff yelled again as his hands grabbed a solid object at the bottom of the tube. The boiling blood had reached just above his elbows.

Taking a solid grip on the object, he lifted his arms out of the pool and let the object drop to the floor. "Aaaah!! Damn it!!" he screamed in pain as the puzzle-shaped, metal object slid across the floor.

Geoff attempted to wipe the blood off on his pants and shirt, for what was worse about hot blood than hot water was that the blood stayed on the skin and continued to burn. If Geoff didn't get all the blood off quick, it would dry to his skin.

* * *

"What?" Paula screamed as she began to stand up.

"Sit still!" Kevin screamed as he pointed the gun to Paula who kept still, and then to Grace. "You too."

Grace stood still and did not smile or frown. The thought of reaching for her gun and shooting Kevin crossed her mind. But she quickly realized something by the way Kevin looked and how much of a struggle he had thinking.

Maybe…she wouldn't need her gun.

"I saved your life, Kevin!" Paula screamed with tears in her eyes, "and then you let Carl die! You owe this to me! You owe it to me!!" she shrieked as Kevin slammed his foot against the ground.

"Shut up!" he screamed to Paula who shook in her seat.

Kevin's eyes moved to Grace who remained emotionless and stared back at him.

Grace could die, right here and now. But Grace had even said it herself; she wasn't really working for Jigsaw anymore. So what would be the point? Unless it was all some sort of twisted lie. However, that couldn't be the case. Grace has been in too much danger so far, would Jigsaw truly allow that for his apprentice?

"Paula," Kevin said as she quickly looked up at him. "I'm sorry."

Kevin aimed the gun for her heart and fired. As the bullet neared Paula, words rung through her head for the last time.

"_Is Kevin deserving of life, Paula? How far will you go to make sure that he, and his twisted obsession for justice, live? Kevin…would you make the same sacrifices to make sure Paula lives?"_

_Paula silently stepped toward Kevin. She bit her lip and looked down at him. "Would you?"_

"_Would I what?" Kevin screamed, anxious to escape the trap he was in._

"_Would you really do the same for me?"_

_"Of course I would! I wouldn't watch you die like that sick fuck! You know that!" Kevin shouted, attempting to persuade Paula to release him._

Paula fell backwards on her stool as death hit her instantly. The perfect aim of a detective assured this.

Grace jumped out of her stool and backed away from Paula, toward Kevin's direction. "You killed her," Grace said with a chuckle. Relieved that Paula died instead of herself.

"But now," Kevin said with a smile. "The world gets to know who Jigsaw is. And you'll be revealed as his apprentice. Paula would've wanted me to do this. I know she would've!" he said with a chuckle. "I did it Paula!" Kevin laughed as he backed away from Grace who pulled the pistol from her pocket. "You think I'm scared of your empty pistol?"

Grace opened up the back of the pistol to show him two bullets in its barrel. "I got two bullets in this thing, Kevin," she said as she pointed it at him. Her eyes moved to the vault and she gave a malicious grin. "Get into the vault you sick fuck."

Kevin continued to move back to the vault, his hands partially in the air. "Me? The sick fuck? You're the w—"

"You let Jade die didn't you?" Grace asked with a chuckle as Kevin's eyes widened. "I helped John set that game up. I knew what was supposed to happen. And you let her die, didn't you? You killed Mary too. Then Carl, and now Paula. There's no way you're leaving this place without some sort of punishment. That's not how the man you call 'Jigsaw', operates."

"So what, you're gonna kill me?" Kevin asked as he stepped into the dark vault.

Grace grabbed the vault door with one hand. She looked up at it, realizing it would lock when it closed. "No. There's something much worse in store for you," Grace said as she slammed the vault door shut. A locking noise rang from it as it closed.

Pulling out the piece of paper from before, Grace pushed the strip of tape against the shut door and walked away with a smile.

_"As for the other paper, you'll know to use it when, and if, the time comes." Grace finished reading the paper and put it into her pocket. _

_As soon as she finished with the first piece of paper, she grabbed for the next, pulling it toward her face as she read through it. Her eyes squinted and her face filled with confusion. She even read through it again just to be sure she was reading it correctly. "John…what are you planning?" she asked as she folded the paper up neatly, being sure to keep the piece of tape attached as she placed it into her pocket._

She looked down at the gun in her hand and chuckled. "Two bullets left. One for John's apprentice…" she placed the gun into her back pocket, "…and one for John."

* * *

_To be concluded…_


	26. Act III: Scene ix

Note: This is the final scene of Act III folks. I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I have typing it. Once again, I'll be taking a short break from my fic for a week or two. Then it's on to Act IV, which may or may not be my last Act. But I'm pretty confident I'll be in for Act V. Anyways, enjoy, and don't forget the Saw theme music. I mean it this time. Go to youtube or itunes, I don't care what it takes. Find it and listen! Also, there's a new Saw VI poster up. Two more months, guys. Anyways…enjoy.

* * *

Scene ix

* * *

"Aaaah!" Geoff screamed once again as the hot blood stung his skin. He continued to rub his arms against his pants, (no easy feat, considering Geoff's hands were bound together by handcuffs) and after about a minute of doing so, there were only small patches of died blood on Geoff's arms.

The agent gave a small sigh of relief as he looked over his arms. They still ached from the boiling blood. Luckily it was nothing too serious.

Geoff's eyes moved to the ground, the number '2' was painted in white and there was an arrow in front of it pointing forward. He moved in its direction, looking at the large glass box in the corner.

He stopped in front of the box and noticed a fire at the bottom as the sound of static rang through the room again.

"Hello Geoff, and welcome to your next challenge," said the recording of Jigsaw from the speaker. "If you look directly in front of you, you will notice a golden locket hanging from a wire."

Looking up, Geoff saw the locket, it was in the shape of heart and it was opened. There was a picture of his wife inside.

"Your wife has been dead for a year. And this object you have slept with every night since her death. It was a gift from her not too long before that fatal car accident. You look at this locket as the beautiful memory of your wife. But I see it as symbol of your injustice, the reason why you can't move on with your life. How would she feel if she knew of your obsession for justice? All the people you've jailed for little or none other reason then you were upset. That's a misuse of your authority, Geoff. She would want you to let go, for your sake."

"How would you know what my wife would want you bastard?" Geoff muttered as he moved his eyes from the locket to an oval-shaped hole in the glass box, spikes protruding from it.

"I'll give you a chance to save your wife, Geoff. It's quite simple. All you need to do is put your hands through the hole and pull away the locket before time runs out. If you do not, the locket will fall into the fire and it will burn…just as your wife did in the flames of the car crash. You have twenty seconds Geoff, make your choice."

Red numbers suddenly appeared on a timer at the top of the glass box and began to count down from twenty.

"Jesus," Geoff said as slowly inched his hands to the oval-shaped hole on the glass box. "Ow," he muttered as one of the spikes pricked his hand.

The agent stopped his hands and looked to the locket. Jigsaw's words rang through his head.

_"You'll go through a complete transformation if you succeed, Geoff. But you must learn the lessons of pain, letting go, and trust. If you can learn these lessons you will learn true justice."_

Pulling his hands away from the hole Geoff stared at the locket as the timer drew closer to zero. "He wants me to let go," he said as he watched the locket with tears in his eyes. "Damn it!" Geoff screamed as he slammed his hands against the box. But not even a crack was made in the glass box.

A buzzer suddenly sounded from the timer as it hit zero. The wire fell from the top of the glass box and landed in the fire below, along with the locket.

Geoff gave a heavy sigh as his eyes moved up to the second puzzle piece, which emerged from a triangular-shaped hole in the glass box and fell to the ground. It landed with a loud 'thud', thanks to its thickness and metal body.

* * *

Suddenly, a single light flickered on from the top of the inside of the vault. Kevin looked up at the dimly lit bulb and then down to the metal crates surrounding him.

"Grace!" Kevin shouted as he turned his head back to vault door. It was locked shut. "You let me out of here, _now!_"

The detective's eyes stopped on a recorder sitting on top of a crate. "Shit," he muttered as he quickly picked up the recorder and clicked play.

"Hello Kevin, are you listening? Be sure that you are, for this cassette will only play once. The recorder you are holding is eating away at the cassette tape's film inside," came Jigsaw's voice as Kevin sat himself down on a crate, gripping the recorder tight.

"If you _are_ listening to this, detective, then that means you've failed—again. I gave you a chance to redeem yourself, to overcome your obsession with justice. Have you learned nothing from Jade's death, Kevin?"

"_Help me!" Jade screamed again._

"_I'm sorry," Kevin said as he opened the now unlocked door before him. Jade continued to scream toward him, but the detective ignored her as he ran down the fluorescent-lighted hallway, pulling the pistol from his back pocket as he continued to hear, and ignore, Jade's cries._

"You let her die because you thought it was for the greater good. To capture the man you call 'Jigsaw'. And now you've done the same to Paula. You let her die because you thought it would put me in jail. I guess you've learned nothing."

"_Has Jade taught you a valuable lesson about obsession, Kevin? Has her death showed you the error of your ways? Or do you still want justice? Do you still want to see me rot in prison? Tonight, we shall find out."_

"Fuck you," Kevin said as he bit his lip. His head shook slowly as Jigsaw continued to speak.

"You're not a very good listener, Kevin. You didn't understand the rules of your first tape here in this building. When you were strapped to the table. For you see, Kevin. I always keep to my part of the rules. I promised you that _I_ would not harm you…"

_"I can assure you Kevin, that if you kill Paula I will give you no sort of punishment whatsoever. There is no right or wrong choice. I am no longer a part of this game from here on out."_

"…for you see Kevin. There's something that I have not told you yet," said Jigsaw with a chuckle as Kevin glanced down at the recorder in his hand.

* * *

"Here it is," said one of the officers as Shaan Primo walked to the front door of the building.

"It's completely sealed off," Shaan said as he looked back to the officer. "What about those messages on the walls…from that girl whose imitating Jigsaw?"

_Shaan looked back to the officer and to the chopped tongue on the ground. He looked back to Kenneth's corpse and the barbed wire that remained stuck inside his flesh._

_The man's eyes wandered to the walls. Phrases were written in blood on the wall. They read, 'See No Evil', 'Hear No Evil', and 'Speak No Evil'._

"The steel plating over the windows prevents those inside from seeing the outside world, hearing the outside world, and they cannot 'speak'. Anyone yelling inside wouldn't be heard from anyone directly next to the building," said Shaan as he moved to the door that led to the entrance of the large building. The door had a device with a keyhole attached to it, but Shaan merely touched the door and it slowly slid open.

"Someone's already come out of here," Shaan said as one of the officers called his name.

"Look," said an officer as he shined his flashlight on the ground. Fresh skid marks were clearly visible. "Someone just left here."

* * *

"John!" shouted Alison as she came through the curtains of the room. "A car just parked outside of the building."

John sat in a chair, hands folded across his chest as he looked up to Alison. "Then things went as I thought. That's Grace outside; she knows we're here. I left a car for her if she was to complete the game," John said with a smile as Alison gave a scoff.

"What…do you think she's changed or something? Why would you let her back into—"

Alison stopped talking as John beckoned to her, "come." She came over to John as he began to whisper into her ear.

As she listened, Alison's eyes went wide and she backed away from John. "Are you crazy? I'm not doing that, John. Never," she said.

"Wait…" John said, moving his hand as if he was reaching for Alison. But she already exited the room, leaving the curtains swinging softly. "…Alison." John gave a sigh as he leaned back in his chair, his eyes shut tight.

Alison left the room and began to walk swiftly to the other end of the large room. Suddenly, the door at the end of the room swung open. Grace stepped inside, her gun pointed at Alison.

"Grace!" Alison yelped, stepping back, surprised that she had a gun.

"Wait—Alison?" Grace snorted. "You're kidding right? Miss Goodie is John's new apprentice?"

A frown suddenly came over Alison's face. "Yeah, well 'Miss Goodie' didn't have much problem knocking you out cold in front of that police station."

"That was you?" Grace asked with her hand clutching the gun tight.

"It was killing two birds with one stone, actually," Alison said, watching the gun in Grace's hand. "You see, before waiting outside for you, I was busy inside the police station gathering information."

_Kevin grabbed a chair near the table as Alison simply looked down at the floor. "God damn it!" he screamed. The officer grabbed the chair and threw it across the room. He placed his hands on the table and hunched over to look Alison in the face, "you tell me where the bastard is!"_

_Violent sobbing exploded from Alison; her hands moved to cover her face._

"_Alison…" Kevin whispered, "where…is…Jigsaw?" His tone was calm and comfortable—afraid that another shouting session would cause her to break down._

"_32 C-County Street," Alison said; her voice subdued by sobs._

_"Thank you," Kevin said. The officer left Alison and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him._

_Kevin soon left the room and Paula moved in to comfort Alison, whose crying was completely faked._

_"I'm…alright," Alison said after a few minutes, wiping tears from her eyes as Paula helped her to the hallway._

_"You sure?" Paula asked as Alison nodded._

_Paula left to her office as Alison walked toward the door leading out of the police station. But rather then leaving, she quickly moved to a door with a pin in her hand she picked the lock, leading to a large filing cabinet in the room._

_Alison slipped on a plastic glove, picked the lock on one of the drawers, and pulled out a piece of paper with information on the building on Tobin Street._

"It was important that I stole that sheet of information on the building that you and the others played your game in," explained Alison.

_Curiosity overcame the agent as he followed the voice of the detective into a lit room. The detective stood in front of a series of filing cabinets; one of the drawers was wide open._

"_All the drawers were locked except that one," the detective said as Shaan walked into the room. "And this file…" he held up a thin folder with only a dozen or so papers inside, "…is missing a paper." He walked up to Agent Primo and handed him the folder as he quickly looked through it. The missing page was obvious._

"Alright. Whatever," Grace said with a shrug and a grin. "I'm out, that's all that matters. But tell me, unless you want me to shoot you, what's John's next step?"

"Don't you know?" Alison chuckled, "John's perfect game is finally coming to fruition."

Grace's face went emotionless. "His perfect game. He's talked to me about that but he's never explained. Tell me, Alison…what's his perfect game? Where's it being held?"

"Uh…" Alison muttered, "…he's never told me. I've asked before but all he's said is that 'the time will come'."

Anger filled Grace's eyes. She was curious to know about John's game, and if Alison didn't know, there was no possible way that John would tell Grace what it was before she attempted to kill him.

"Oh well," Grace said. "I guess you'll die with your hollow secret."

_Bang!_

A bullet erupted from the gun and pierced Alison's skull. She suddenly fell to the ground, lifeless. A triumphant Grace stepped over Alison's corpse and to the curtains that led to John's room.

"John," Grace sang, "it seems your expiration date is a bit earlier then Doctor Gordon expected."

* * *

"Here's your second piece," Geoff muttered as he placed the second puzzle piece into the board on the table in the center of the room. His eyes moved to the last station. There seemed to be another tube rising from the floor.

As Geoff stopped at the station, his eyes moved to a pistol sticking out from the wall and then to the tube, which held a small pool of water and a puzzle piece. Another tube was high up and horizontal. It also had a puzzle piece at the end of it.

"Welcome to your last challenge, Geoff," came the voice of Jigsaw from the speaker. "You've succeeded in letting go, and you're now one step closer to your transformation."

Geoff pulled on the gun in the wall, in an attempt to remove it. "There are two puzzle pieces here, but you only need one. By pulling on a puzzle piece a gun before you will fire off. If you choose to grab the piece on the higher tube the bullet will hit you…"

The agent looked to the gun, if it was to fire off, the bullet would only hit his shoulder.

"…but if you duck down and pull up the piece from the water, the bullet will miss you. However, this water is electrified. If you place your hands in it for too long, you'll be paralyzed. If you don't think carefully, Geoff, this will be the last step you'll ever make. Make your choice. And trust me, water is good for treating wounds. Wash away your sins, officer."

The recording shut off as he looked down to the tube before him. "Does he want me to…?" Geoff mumbled as he looked up to the tube extending from the wall. "No, but this way I'll only get shot in the shoulder. I already have enough damage on my arms."

Geoff took a step forward to reach the tube.

_"If you don't think carefully, Geoff, this will be **the last step** you'll ever make."_

The agent looked down to his foot. He had to make a step to reach the tube. "No, that's just mere coincidence…" Geoff chuckled as he looked down to the gun. "…I'm not gonna trust a psycho."

Geoff stopped moving; his head turned to look at the tube with the electrified water at the bottom and sighed.

"I trust this man," Geoff said, sighing.

He had never felt so…at ease…about his wife's death. For the first time in a long time Geoff felt whole again.

He could let go of the pain. He could trust again.

Geoff walked in front of the tube and plunged his hands into the water. But rather than feeling a surge of electricity, only a small tingling feeling came from the water. The amount of electricity flowing through the water was little to none.

A chuckle came from Geoff as he pulled on the puzzle piece, a string tugged as he did so. The piece was removed from the string as a gunshot went off. The agent stood up slowly to look at the gun on the wall. This gun wasn't smoking; rather, there was smoke coming from an area directly in front of Geoff. For there was a gun tucked away into the wall that would've shot Geoff right in the heart if he had taken the puzzle piece of the tube extending from the wall.

Geoff backed away from the tube and moved to the table in the center of the room. He placed the puzzle piece on the board and suddenly a clicking sound came from the door behind Geoff, signifying the bomb's deactivation. But then the board opened up and a saw blade, which began to spin, was revealed along with a recorder directly beside it.

The agent looked to the spinning blade and slowly placed the chain on his handcuffs onto the blade. Within moments the chain snapped and Geoff was free to move his arms again. His first movement was to the recorder beside the saw. He picked it up and pressed play.

"Hello Geoff," came Jigsaw's voice. "And congratulations. You've passed your final test. You've learned the lessons I had to teach you: pain, letting go, and trust. You've learned to trust in me, Geoff. You've learned true justice. Now listen closely. I have information to enclose to you, and if you've learned anything from this game, you will use this information correctly."

Geoff placed the recorder to his ear as Jigsaw began to speak, his curiosity booming.

* * *

John looked from the ground to his former apprentice who held the gun firmly in her hand, the curtains swaying behind her.

"Hello John," Grace with a smile. "I want to play a game," she moved a few steps closer to John with the gun pointed toward his chest. "You tell me what you're planning for your perfect game, and I won't kill you."

John gave a small chuckle as he kept his arms folded across his chest. "That depends…did you put the note on the vault door? When you locked Kevin inside?"

"You were expecting that, weren't you?" Grace asked.

"That was my guess on how things would turn out. No one ever seems to take the chances I give them to live," John gave a sigh as he looked back down to the ground.

"Yeah. I put the note up and took all the recorders and cassettes I could find before leaving. It was a damn good plan…despite the consequences I'm going to get. But it's the only way they would've ever believed it," explained Grace as she waved the gun around. "Now take _my_ chance for you to live, and tell me what you're planning."

"No," John said as he struggled to get up from the chair. He placed one hand on the top of it to keep himself standing. "Things went exactly as I hoped. Except for Alison…she should have listened to me. I can't have an apprentice who won't listen."

_Alison remained silent as Kaden smiled. He knew he hit a nerve of some sort. "You're still upset over little Roy's death, huh? And Steven's too. He told you to move on, and you haven't. I don't think Jigsaw wants someone who doesn't obey his orders."_

"If Alison had listened to me then she would've left me and she would still be alive. And with Kevin, from the note you placed on the door…I'm sure you realize that he…" John looked away from Grace and to the wall and gave a small chuckle.

* * *

"That something I haven't told you Kevin…" Jigsaw said from the recording, Kevin's eyes were glued to the recorder, "…is that _you_ are _Jigsaw_."

"What?" Kevin shouted in confusion and anger and 'Jigsaw' continued to speak from the recorder.

"You, and the rest of the officers, see me as a man called Jigsaw. A serial killer. Someone who kills innocent people for his own purposes."

_"This is disgusting," Special Agent Shaan Primo said as he crouched down to look at the wound in her stomach. "Jigsaw's a sicko. There's nothing I hate more than a murderer."_

"Don't lie to me, Kevin. I haven't killed any innocent people. But you've killed quite a few. Mary…"

_"Come back!" Mary yelled. "Come back and get me out of here! I don't deserve this!"_

"…Jade…"

_Jade screamed and moved her feet in an attempt to get them out of the slots. "Help me!" she screamed again._

"…Carl…"

_The room was completely silent as the walls inside the chamber were back to normal. Carl continued to stare at Paula as his lips finally moved,"I lov—"_

"…And Paula."

"_Paula," Kevin said as she quickly looked up at him. "I'm sorry."_

_Kevin aimed the gun for her heart and fired._

"They all died for your own 'benefits'. So you could try to lock Jigsaw away. So now I will give you your long-wanted wish. There is a note attached to the vault door. Shall I read its contents to you, Kevin? It reads, 'Dear Special Agent Shaan Primo—behind this door is detective Kevin Harthe. He is Jigsaw…responsible for the deaths of many innocent people. Look around, you will find that there are very valid clues that will point to this. Signed, Jigsaw's Apprentice, Grace Sruley'."

Kevin remained dead quiet, his eyes no longer on the recorder, but at the wall.

* * *

"…he has been framed for being Jigsaw," John said as his eyes moved back to Grace.

"Ingenious, John. Really. Just tell me what the plan for your perfect game is, and I'll let you live," Grace threatened. "That's all I want."

"No. You'll kill me anyways," John shook his head slowly as he stared Grace in the eyes. "My perfect game is coming along. And in due time, whether I'm alive or not, you will see it. So go ahead," John said, anger in his voice, "relieve me of my _suffering._ For there is only one cure for the painful effects of cancer, Grace."

A pause.

"Death."

Grace gave a huff and pointed the gun to John's abdomen. "Suffering huh? Not a bad idea. Personally, from the hell you just put me through, I think you deserve to suffer a little more."

She pulled the trigger on the gun, causing the bullet to fire straight into John's stomach.

The man immediately gripped his stomach as he fell to his knees; John groaned in agony as Grace simply watched with a smile.

* * *

Shaan held a gun tight in his hands as he walked into the building, officers behind him. "The vault," Shaan said, his eyes squinted as he saw the note taped to the door. "There's a note on it."

They stopped at the door as Shaan pulled the note away, his eyes scanned it and they widened. "Someone help me get this door open," Shaan said as he turned around, handing the note to an officer. "I think we found our Jigsaw."

* * *

"They won't believe you," Kevin said, shaking his head, unable to hear the voices outside of the vault.

"Your fellow officers will realize you killed Paula. They'll believe that you were the one took the paper from the folder in your office with information regarding this building, which holds a large amount of weapons for the government. Something 'Jigsaw' could use in the making of his traps. They'll think that your obsession for catching Jigsaw and your sudden disappearance was nothing more than a cover up. And the writing in blood…on the wall…"

_Grace immediately moved down the hallway and stopped as soon as it came into view. The words 'Live Your Life' were written large in blood on the wall. It looked as if someone had written the words with the paintbrush that was almost out of liquid. The letters weren't fully developed and some spacing and patches were missing._

"…believe it or not, Kevin, that was written in your blood. My apprentice didn't bandage up your hands from the goodness of her heart," said John in the recording with a chuckle as Kevin gave a scream, his head banged against the wall behind him.

_Kevin looked over to his hands. The room he was in was fairly dark. He wasn't able to see far, but he could tell that the cuts on his hands from the elevator trap had been fixed. There was the soft feel of wrapped cloth around his hands._

"And I stayed true to my word, Kevin. I said I wouldn't be part of this game any longer. I promised you I wouldn't give you any punishment. But what the authorities want to do when they get here…" Kevin's eyes grew wide and hands clutched the recorder tight, "…is completely up to them. But I'm guessing you'll rot in jail. Just like how you wanted me to. Goodbye, 'Jigsaw'," the recording ended as the vault door began to open, officers with guns pointed at Kevin sat inside, Shaan yelling at him to put his hands behind his back.

_"Kevin…would you make the same sacrifices to make sure Paula lives?" Kevin's eyes moved up to Paula who stared right back down at him. "The answer to this question just might be your **freedom**."_

* * *

"…goodbye and good luck, Geoff. I hope to see you soon," said John on the recording as it ended.

The door began to move and Geoff quickly shoved the recorder into his pocket.

"Agent Geoff?" said an officer as he put the gun down to his side. He walked inside and looked around, a surprised Geoff simply gave a smile. "Are you alright?"

"Never better," Geoff replied.

"Shaan Primo's downstairs. Along with Jigsaw."

"You mean Kevin?" Geoff asked. The recorder Geoff had listened to revealed a large amount of information to him. Including several possible outcomes of the game.

And as far as Geoff was concerned, Kevin was Jigsaw. John Kramer was a different man. Not suited for such a cruel title.

"You know?" the officer asked, shocked.

"Yeah, I know. He locked me in here. I would've died of starvation if you guys hadn't came," lied Geoff as he walked out from the room, looking back at the officer.

"And Paula," the officer said. "We think Kevin killed her."

Geoff sighed, "yeah. I figured she might be dead."

"Let's get back to Shaan. He'll be delighted to know you can back up this whole screwed up mess that Kevin's Jigsaw. With you as a witness, we can lock him away for good," said the officer as he walked toward the set of stairs, Geoff close behind.

* * *

"Urgh…" John groaned, struggling to not keel over. He used a shaking hand to pull a recorder from his pocket, his eyes looking up one last time at Grace before falling flat on the ground.

Grace let the empty pistol fall to the floor as she used her foot to drag the recorder from John's hand and to her. Picking it up, she hit 'play'.

"Hello Grace, if you're listening to this then I am dead and you have failed. You failed the second you put the thought into your head that I was the one responsible for Steven's death. He made his own choices, and so did you. I can only hope that you've learned your lesson and you stay away from your corrupt obsession for justice. Justice over Steven's death, killing those who you believe are responsible for Steven's depression and his self mutilation," as the tape continued, Grace flipped over John's body, blood still running from his stomach as her fingers moved to his neck to check his pulse. She kept them on there for a few moments.

No pulse. John was really dead.

"The authorities know you've helped me in my games, Grace. So now, you have no choice but to take my place and continue the games. Give people the justice they deserve. This is your last chance Grace; I can hope that you understand what true justice is. If you stray away from justice, I can assure you there will be dire consequences. Goodbye, Grace."

The recorder shut off as Grace stood up from John's corpse. Her eyes moved to John's doll, which sat on a desk in the corner of the room.

Grace chuckled as she grabbed John's doll by the hair and walked out of the room, moving the curtains to the side. "I think it's time for a makeover," she said with a smile, looking down at the doll and it's eerie face.

* * *

Geoff walked out of the building to see Shaan Primo, whose head quickly turned to him. "Geoff, do you—"

"I know," Geoff replied, interrupting Shaan. "I know about Kevin."

"Then you know it's not totally over. We need to find this Grace girl before she starts anymore games," Shaan said as Geoff nodded, looking to a SWAT truck over on the side. "Kevin's in there."

"I want to take a look at his sorry face," Geoff said with a chuckle, walking away from the officers as he opened the back door of the truck. Kevin sat there, handcuffed to the wall.

"Geoff!" Kevin cried out, "thank God! They think I'm Jigsaw. You know that I'm not, you heard him and his recordings. You know it's just part of his game, right?"

A smile came over Geoff's lips. "Well, Kevin," he began; a confused look came over Kevin's face. "As Jigsaw would say…"

Detective Kevin moved his arm forward, in an attempt to reach Geoff. "You know, don't you?" Kevin screamed, rage in his eyes. "You're in on this, aren't you! You bastard! You fucking bastard!"

Geoff gripped the door tight as Kevin continued to scream. "Don't you close the door on me, Geoff! Don't you dare!"

"…game over!" Geoff said as forcefully threw the door shut.

"You mother fucker! Geoff, you're a traitor! Open this door, Geoff!"

_Slam!_

The door shut and Geoff walked away. Leaving Kevin to scream in darkness…to suffer in his own pool of obsession and injustice.

* * *

_End Act III…_


End file.
